SCANDALS: Gulf Comes Clean

One outgrowth of the Watergate scandal has been an intensified Government probe into contributions by American-based multinational corporations —especially oil companies—to foreign politicians. Two years ago, the Watergate special prosecutor's office, while investigating illegal contributions to Nixon's 1972 campaign, discovered clues indicating that some U.S. firms had also been donating to political parties in other countries. The Securities and Exchange Commission later began looking into the matter. Reason: giving corporate cash to a foreign political party does not in itself violate U.S. law, but disguising the contributions on a company's books might contravene the SEC'S reporting requirements. Testifying at...