Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Questions Raised on Bush Son’s Dealings

President Bush’s eldest son sold $848,560 of his stock in a Texas company just before the share prices began to plunge because of poor earnings reports, according to U.S. News & World Report. The magazine says that, at the time of the sale last June 22, George W. Bush was a member of a committee formed by the Dallas-based Harken Energy Co. to study the likely effects of a corporate restructuring. As a member of a committee looking into Harken’s restructuring, the younger Bush was reported to have “detailed knowledge of the financial pressure Harken was under and of the demands being placed on (it) by its creditors.” The Securities and Exchange Commission did not learn of the transaction until 10 months after it should have been reported, the magazine said. It said Bush maintains that he did file the insider sale notice as required, but that it was lost.