Still, Jaedicke and Winokur had the benefit of being old men whose board roles were clearly something of a joke with little actual oversight. Skilling was the one who had day-to-day responsibility for the company and, apparently, not a lick of remorse.

Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa., the chairman of the oversight committee, expressed incredulity that when committee staffers interviewed Skilling in December, Skilling said that when he left Enron "the company was in the best shape it ever was."

"I would like for you to explain that statement in light of the fact that Enron has, subsequent to your departure, declared bankruptcy, fired its auditor, discovered massive insider dealing by the CFO and other employees, fired its CFO, treasurer and one of its general counsel, seen Ken Lay's resignation as president and CEO, ... laid off over 4,500 employees and has since reneged on its promise to pay them a severance, is under investigation by both houses of Congress, the Department of Justice and the SEC, had to restate its earnings from 1997 to 2000 in the amount of $586 million and had to announce an equity write-down of $1.2 billion, not to mention likely additional earnings adjustments in excess of a billion dollars, that indicates that Enron was not even profitable while you were at the helm as CEO."

Amid titters at Skilling's odd brazenness in the face of such damning evidence, the low-key Greenwood -- who can get nasty when he wants to -- asked, "Enron's condition today seems nothing like being in 'good shape.' How do you explain this?"

Skilling stuck to the script. "All I can say is on August 14th, the date that I left the company, I believed that the company's financial statements were an accurate reflection of its financial condition." With good news in a number of ventures, Skilling said he "believed that we had made progress on a number of different dimensions that put the company in a good position for the future."

Except for the moment when he nearly cried while discussing his "best friend" Baxter's suicide, Skilling seemed nothing short of delusional. Actually, he seemed delusional when it came to Baxter, too, blaming his suicide on the media. Delicately, if relentlessly asked by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., to shed some light on why Baxter would shoot himself, Skilling was understandably terse.

"Cliff's family has gone through a lot," he said. "I don't know if it's my job or my role to describe some of the things Cliff talked with me about."

He looked down at his hands, grabbed a pen and gripped it tightly. "I don't think there's anyone who knew Cliff and spent time with Cliff toward the end ... that didn't realize he was heartbroken about what had happened" to Enron.

His eyes welled. "Carol, if you're out there, I hope you're OK with this," he said to Baxter's widow via C-SPAN. His voice choked up as he described how Baxter came to "my house a week before" -- long pause -- "he took his life."

"We spent an hour, al-" -- another pause -- "almost three hours talking." Baxter, Skilling said, was very angry about the attorneys suing him for possibly using insider information when he sold his stock in early 2001.

"'They are calling us child molesters,'" Skilling recalled that Baxter said. "'That will never wash off.'"

It was a poignant reminder that behind the fascinating tale of 10-gallon chicanery, the Enron saga has a tragic human cost. With the exception of Baxter and his family, however, a sizable chunk of the Enron shareholders and former employees who are suffering and have been deprived of their life savings detest Skilling. And with today's testimony there seems even more reason to do so.

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