Washington ? Star witness and presidential friend Kenneth Lay. Enron employees’ loss of their retirement savings. The company’s intricate web of partnerships. All come under the glare of public scrutiny this week as Congress delves into a huge corporate failure heavy with political overtones.

“The more I’ve seen of this the more it smells. There’s something dreadfully wrong that happened in this corporation,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who is leading one of the numerous investigations.

Lay, Enron’s chairman until he resigned Jan. 23, is the builder and biggest symbol of the collapsed energy conglomerate. Monday, he is expected to speak publicly about the calamity for the first time before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Among the questions: Was Enron’s stunning failure caused by bad luck, incompetence or greed? Were illegal or criminal actions involved? Where were the company’s directors while this was happening? How much did they profit from it? Were they kept in the dark by senior executives?

Minutes of Enron board meetings from late 1997 to mid-2000 show that Lay and other directors had detailed information about the complex partnerships that kept some $500 million in debt off the company’s balance sheet, hidden from investors and federal securities regulators.

Dorgan says the company has not cooperated in providing information about the partnerships sought by investigators. Enron’s attorney in Washington disputes that, saying information must come from the partnerships themselves.

Lay has been President Bush’s biggest campaign benefactor over the years. In addition, several Bush administration officials have close ties to Houston-based Enron Corp. Compounding the political problem, the White House recently disclosed that Lay had contacted Bush’s Treasury and Commerce secretaries and budget director in October and November as the company foundered.

Enron slid into the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Dec. 2. Countless small investors nationwide were burned by Enron’s stock slide, along with state pension funds. Thousands of Enron workers lost their jobs and retirement savings that were dominated by company stock.

Enron and its accounting practices are under investigation by various agencies, including the Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress.