Undercover Investigation: Lobbyist With Ties To White House Offers Access In Exchange For Bush Library Donations

Times Of London:

A lobbyist with close ties to the White House is offering access to key figures in George W Bush's administration in return for six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush's presidency.

Stephen Payne, who claims to have raised more than $1m for the president's Republican party in recent years, said he would arrange meetings with Dick Cheney, the vice-president, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and other senior officials in return for a payment of $250,000 (£126,000) towards the library in Texas.

Payne, who has accompanied Bush and Cheney on several foreign trips, also said he would try to secure a meeting with the president himself.

Read the whole story: Times Of London

Comments

[wadenelson1]

Six figure donations???

How many copies of "ThePet Goat" are they gonna carry? Paperback, hardback, DVD, diorama, wide-screen theater w THX???

[zizyphus]

This video is a perfect monument to the Bush Library, a symbol of the Bush Legacy.

[collprof]

Where can I donate to the Waste Disposal and Processing site that's going to be named the George W. Bush Disposal Site in Oceanside, California?

Bush doesn't deserve a library, he deserves impeachment and Cheney deserves an indictment for treason in outing Plame.

[larry278]

There might be a problem in getting donations of $ for W's library & giving the donor access to W. WTF wants to be near to or talk to a lame duck like W? If you add that Dennis's impeachment resolution is now on Nancy's table & evidence relevant to W & Co's war crimes are being organized to present to US grand juries &/or Int'l courts; it'll be a difficult sell. Maybe if they threw in pictures of W & others doing perp walks to sweeten the deal..., no, no sale.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

I think the American people own the papers from their white house years. Why are they building libraries? Is there a way to stop these being built? Only crooked money comes to the libraries and I don't care if they are republicans or democrats. Once these people retire they become millionaires making speeches all over the world and that is fine. But the American people shouldn't have to pay for everything when they leave office. Let them rent a big federal building in DC and each office for an ex president should be in that building. We must start cutting back and we need to start at the top. Let the president and both houses be the example for the rest of the American people.

[RTIII]

Let's see, cash for access... Illegal?

Why is it that a foreign media has to do the investigative journalism to report this?

(rhetorical questions, of course)
.

[darthdarcy]

Texas is one big crime syndicate masquerading as a state of the union...

If you get a stench of fraud, a swindle, scam, rip off, con job, theft, embezzlement, robbery, hypocrisy you just flow that stench and it will lead you to Texas with a capital T...

[cruisepuppy7452a]

In other words, they want to get ahold of anything that could implicate them, destroy them, make them go in the shredder, or fire. Gee, what a suprise. Too bad its not original. Its called evidence tampering, and its a federal offense.

[walk0nwalls]

Two points for the undercover reporter. A gold star for this report. And kudos to the British press for doing their jobs when the Americans won't.

[S1m0n]

If he's raised a million selling quarter million meetings, he's only found four takers. That's got to be pretty pathetic.

[kfdan]

Access to the Washington elite costs money! The corruption in the Beltway hinges on lobbyist's control over access and influence. This is key to anyone wanting to gain influence. The assumption is that if you need access you have something to gain yourself. What's a few $100 thousand or a few million to those who stand to make more in the process ... NOTHING!

[bosshogg]

damn these are some sloppy and corrupt adm.

[obamanation31]

Disgusting! Low Class!

[ErnestineBass]

Why the he// does Junior need a brick and mortar "library" when a '68 VW microbus converted into a Bookmobile and filled with children's books would suffice?

Besides, it's not like BOOOsh'll EVER be able to visit it...once he's out of office, he'll be fleeing to his million acre compound in Paraguay to avoid prosecution for treason and war crimes.

Stephen Payne is just doing the "BOOOsh Shuffle" and filling his own nest with cash before the "Money Train" pulls out of Washington. These guys are sooooooo transparent.

[liberalrebuttal]

OMG!

So that's what they do huh ? And why did he bring up Joe Biden ? OMG ! I am so disgusted with Washington Lobbyists I could just puke.

OMG !

[Durango]

Lobbyists are not (necessarily) the problem.

I have known plenty of environmental lobbyists in DC who are excellent honest people.

The problem is corrupt Republican lobbyists.

Of course this is how I figured it worked. Bags of money for aaccess.

Enviro lobbyists can't compete.