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The Sweet Mint Tea Pot Dome Scandal

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

• TITLE: "The Sweet Mint Tea Pot Dome Scandal" A play on words on the "Teapot Dome Scandal."

  Teapot Dome:
  In U.S. history, oil reserve scandal that began during the administration of President Harding.

  In 1921, by executive order of the President, control of naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyo., and at Elk Hills, Calif., was transferred from the Navy Dept. to the Dept. of the Interior. The oil reserves had been set aside for the navy by President Wilson.

  In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome fields to Harry F. Sinclair, an oil operator, and the field at Elk Hills, Calif., to Edward L. Doheny. These transactions became (1922-23) the subject of a Senate investigation conducted by Sen. Thomas J. Walsh.

  It was found that in 1921, Doheny had lent Fall $100,000, interest-free, and that upon Fall's retirement as Secretary of the Interior (Mar., 1923) Sinclair also "loaned" him a large amount of money. The investigation led to criminal prosecutions. Fall was indicted for conspiracy and for accepting bribes.

  Convicted of the latter charge, he was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000. In another trial for bribery Doheny and Sinclair were acquitted, although Sinclair was subsequently sentenced to prison for contempt of the Senate and for employing detectives to shadow members of the jury in his case.

  The oil fields were restored to the U.S. government through a Supreme Court decision in 1927.

• � "NY Times "..: Here's a link to the NY Times op-ed piece by Joseph Wilson on his in-depth investigation in Africa.

• � " Donation to John Kerry "�: Here's the listing on the donation:
  

• � " BBC "�: Here's the link to the BBC explanation of it all - pay special attention to the paragraph which reads: [President Bush] pinned the information on the British Government which still stands by it

• Mullfoto of the Day:
  
  An actual invitation to a John Kerry fundraiser.

  1. Maybe Kerry should have invested Wilson's $1,000 on a spell check program.
  2. And they say WE have trouble with "No Child Left Behind."

  
  

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  Korean War Poster
  

•     Mullings' Catchy Caption of the Day:
  
  John Kerry playfully gives Manhattan Borough President C. Viginia Fields a nuggie at a NY fundraiser last week.

  (REUTERS/Jim Bourg )