Bush Corporate Record Examined

WASHINGTON –– The White House acknowledged Wednesday that when he was a corporate director, President Bush failed to promptly disclose stock sales as required by federal law. A spokesman blamed it on a "clerical mistake" by company lawyers, though Bush has said government regulators lost it.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush had followed the law by informing regulators of his intention to sell stock in Harken Energy Corp., a Texas oil company, in 1990. But he conceded that because of a "mix-up, a clerical mistake" by Harken lawyers, Bush had not promptly reported the sale after it took place.

Reacting to a wave of corporate accounting scandals in recent weeks, Bush has proposed that top company leaders be required to promptly disclose their sales or purchases of company stock for personal gain. The law already says company insiders must disclose publicly, by the 10th day of the month following the transaction, a sale or purchase of stock in their companies. The report is known as a Form 4.