The Republican candidate for US vice-president, Mr Dick Cheney, won an early retirement stock package worth $33.7 million from Halliburton Co., a Texas energy company where he served for five years as chief executive, according to company figures.
Democrats attacked Mr Cheney's retirement package last weekend when it was estimated to be about $20 million. On Wednesday, they renewed their attacks on Mr Cheney and Mr George W. Bush as tools of the oil industry. "When it comes to fighting the oil companies for reasonable gas prices and clean air, we know which side Bush and Cheney will be on," said Mr Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Mr Al Gore.
Mr Hattaway also used Mr Cheney's retirement package to cast the Republican ticket as beholden to the wealthy. "Bush's massive tax cut for the rich is just what the doctor ordered for Dick Cheney," he said.
Under the terms of his retirement, Mr Cheney would be barred from cashing as much as $6 million worth of his stock options for up to three years. As a result, Mr Cheney could be serving as vice president while he receives huge sums from an oil services company with operations in the Middle East and other conflict areas.
Mr Cheney, who was Halliburton's chairman and chief executive officer, recognised the potential problem in a one-sentence statement he released through a spokeswoman on Wednesday. "I will do whatever I need to do to avoid any conflict of interest," he said.
An aide said Mr Cheney would review the package with his lawyers and accountants to make sure he complies with ethics laws and avoids any appearance of conflict.
The board of directors at Halliburton approved Mr Cheney's retirement package on July 25th, the day that Mr Bush named him as his running mate.