Daschle: `Somebody ought to go to jail' for Enron price manipulation

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Thursday he believes Enron Corp. broke laws while manipulating electricity supply and prices during the California energy crisis.

"I don't think there's any doubt that somebody ought to go to jail and that we ought to find a way through public policy to fix a system that needs to be addressed," said Daschle, D-S.D.

California Republicans sought to blunt any partisan advantage for Democrats on the issue. Reps. Mary Bono and George Radanovich joined Democrats in calling for a Justice Department (news - web sites) investigation of Enron's energy trading practices as explained in internal company memos made public this week.

"We now have reason to believe that illegal acts took place," Bono said.

The Enron documents described how the energy trading company sought to cash in on California's energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. During the crisis, wholesale energy prices shot up tenfold.