[THS] Koch Bros And Native-American Reservation Oil Theft

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http://www.ourfuture.org/print/66757

Published on OurFuture.org (http://www.ourfuture.org)

Koch And Native-American Reservation Oil Theft
By Dave Johnson
Created 03/20/2011 - 8:00pm

Just what is this Koch Industries? Should it be called a "company?" If so we need to
re-think the idea of what a company and a business is supposed to be. Even the
brother of Koch Industries owners David and Charles Koch called the company an
"organized crime" operation.

Koch money is a key driver of the conservative movement. Almost every [1]
conservative-movement rock [2] you turn over [3] has Koch money [4] crawling
around [5] under it. As the movement becomes more and more of a pay-to-play
operation, conservatives of every stripe do more and more to protect and enrich the
Koch operation. This has included blocking, disrupting and avoiding official
investigations of accusations. It also includes funding front groups to advance the
political and financial interests of the company and its owners.

Theft Of Oil From Reservations

Oppose The Future [6] has the story of how Koch Oil [7] was caught stealing oil from
an Indian Reservation, reducing or removing the incomes of so many poor residents.

    At some point in 1987, Thurmon Parton’s royalty checks for the three oil wells he
inherited from his mother suddenly dropped from $3,000 a month to a little over
$1,000. He and his sister, Arnita Gonzalez, members of the Caddo tribe, lived near
Gracemont, Oklahoma, a town of a few hundred people on a small grid on the
prairie.

    Those modest royalties were the only source of income each of them had.

    . . . What happened to Mr. Parton, Ms. Gonzales and Ms. Limpy had nothing to do
with the wells or how they were producing. Their oil was being stolen. And all of the
evidence pointed to the same culprit: Koch Oil, a division of Koch Industries.

This is an important story today because it helps us understand the nature of the
Koch operation, which has so much influence over our politics and even livelihoods
today. It also helps us understand why our government not only appears to be
influenced, but often to be outright corrupted. From the story,

    In the spring of 1989, a Special Committee on Investigations of the United States
Senate’s Select Committee on Indian Affairs was formed to look into concerns that
the path to tribal self-rule was impeded by fraud, corruption and mismanagement
from all sides.

    ... Within a span of months, the Special Committee determined that “Koch [Oil]
was engaged in systematic theft, stealing millions in Oklahoma alone.” BLM, even
with a tip that Koch was behaving improperly, hadn’t done a thing.

Oppose The Future [7] lays out the story and details of the oil theft. There is also
story of the years following.

"A Broad Pattern Of Criminal Behavior"

Back in 1996 Business Week looked into the relationship between then-Senator and
Presidential Candidate Bob Dole and Koch Industries and an apparent pattern of
influence by the company, in BOB DOLE'S OIL-PATCH PALS [8]. Here are some
excerpts from their investigation, [emphasis added]

    Koch has had a history of run-ins with the Justice Dept. and other federal
agencies. In 1989, a special congressional committee looked into charges that Koch
had routinely removed more oil from storage tanks on Indian tribal lands ... Dole
tried to influence the Senate committee to soft-pedal the probe. Nevertheless, after a
yearlong investigation, the committee said in its final report, "Koch Oil, the largest
purchaser of Indian oil in the country, is the most dramatic example of an oil
company stealing by deliberate mismeasurement and fraudulent reporting." The
report triggered a grand jury probe. The inquiry was dropped in March, 1992, which
provoked outrage by congressional investigators.

    Then in April, 1995, the Justice Dept. filed a $55 million civil suit against Koch for
causing more than 300 oil spills over a five-year period. Dole and other Senators,
however, sponsored a bill ... that critics charge would help Koch defend itself ... legal
sources say the government's ultimate goal is to use evidence in the two actions to
establish that Koch has engaged in a broad pattern of criminal behavior.

    ... From Apr. 19, 1991, through Nov. 2, 1992, David Koch and the Koch Industries
political action committee together contributed $7,000 to Nickles' campaign war
chest. Around the same time, [Oklahoma Republican Senator Don] Nickles sponsored
Timothy D. Leonard, an old friend of Nickles, for the post of U.S. Attorney in
Oklahoma City. ... initially, questions were raised in the U.S. attorney's office about
whether Leonard should recuse himself because Koch Industries purchased oil from
wells in which Leonard and his family had royalty interests ... Then-Deputy Attorney
General William P. Barr granted him a waiver to participate in the case ... In March,
1992, after an 18-month investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office terminated the grand
jury probe and informed Koch it anticipated no indictments. ... As the grand jury
investigation was winding down, Nickles sponsored Leonard for a federal judgeship.
He was nominated by President Bush in November, 1991, and confirmed by the
Senate the following August.

Business Week lays out the evidence [8] in detail. The timing, with Republican
administration/committee/agency/department after
administration/committee/agency/department impeding and/or dropping
investigations into Koch activities is also clear.

In 2000, CBS' 60 Minutes ran a segment, Blood And Oil And Environmental
Negligence [9] looking at the activities of the Koch brothers and their private
company Koch Industries,

    As we told you when we first reported this story last November, the Koch family of
Wichita, Kansas is among the richest in the United States, worth billions of dollars.
Their oil company, Koch Industries, is bigger than Intel, Dupont or Prudential
Insurance, and they own it lock stock and barrel.

William Koch, brother of company owners David and Charles, called the company an
"organized crime" operation:

    Koch says that Koch Industries engaged in "(o)rganized crime. And management
driven from the top down."

    "It was – was my family company. I was out of it," he says. "But that’s what
appalled me so much... I did not want my family, my legacy, my father’s legacy to be
based upon organized crime."

In March, 2001 the incoming Bush administration repealed the "responsible
contractor rule" that barred companies that chronically defraud the government
and/or violate federal pollution, wage and other rules from receiving federal
contracts.

Then, in 2002 the Bush II administration awarded Koch the contract [10] to supply oil
to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (There were accusations that the government
bought oil when prices were high, and sold it when prices were low.) The contract
was renewed in 2004. Koch received tens of millions [11] in other government
contracts during the Bush years.

The story [12] and timeline of the Koch operation (and its front-groups) go on [13]
and on [14], organizing and funding [15] climate-denial front groups [16], front-
groups run and funded by the Koch Brothers [17] organizing and funding the Tea
Party [18]. (Please click the links.)

Think Progress [19] in particular has been following the activities of this "company"
[20] and its front groups [21], and it is certainly worth taking a look. See REPORT:
How Koch Industries Makes Billions By Demanding Bailouts And Taxpayer Subsidies
(Part 1) [22],

    Koch funds both socially conservative groups and socially liberal groups. However,
Koch’s financing of front groups and political organizations all have one thing in
common: every single Koch group attacks workers’ rights, promotes deregulation,
and argues for radical supply side economics.

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