The markets are swiftly punishing the stock of any company suspected of cooking the books. Regulators are cracking down on corporate malfeasance. Prosecutors are filing charges against CEO fraud. Congress is moving relatively quickly for that contentious institution to pass new laws aimed at restoring investor confidence.

Yet the Bush Administration still appears to be behind the curve during the greatest corporate scandal since the Great Depression. The President has never recovered from the graphic image of the stock market ticker tape plunging while he delivered a speech attacking corporate corruption—an address that was more rhetorical flourish talk than substance.

The President still suffers from a lack of credibility. The questions surrounding his dealings as a director at Harken Energy keep piling up. Each day brings a new twist or revelation to a tale of inside profitable deal making at Harken, from a mystery buyer for his stock to sweetheart loans to a puzzling investment by Harvard’s famed investment fund. Bush’s fumbling explanations have only stoked skepticism. The same swirl of doubt surrounds Vice President Dick Cheney’s moneymaking tenure at Halliburton. The SEC is investigating an accounting change that inflated the energy services company’s profits—and the value of its options—while Cheney was CEO. Cheney has retreated into silence.

Here’s what needs to happen: Bush and Cheney should reveal all. Now. Let’s not drag out the process of investigation, revelation by revelation, question upon question. Tell the public everything—good, bad, and indifferent—about what went on at Harken and Halliburton. They should release any relevant documents and put them up on the Internet for swift dissemination. To assure the investing public that all the significant information is revealed—and to prevent the inquiry from turning into a partisan witch hunt—the Justice Department should appoint a respected in-house attorney to oversee the process of gathering and disseminating information.

My guess is that nothing illegal happened. Yes, a detailed accounting will shed a harsh light on crony capitalism, a world of wealth and connections, of power and insider benefits. But the benefit of openness is another step toward cleaning up the system. The President has rightly and eloquently emphasized the critical role corporate responsibility and accountability play in a free enterprise system. Bush and Cheney should lead the movement toward transparency by example.