Bush Homeland Security Aide Caught On Tape Offering High-Level Access For Donations To Bush Library
Bush Homeland Security Aide Caught On Tape Offering High-Level Access For Donations To Bush Library
The Sunday Times reports Stephen Payne, a Bush pioneer and a political appointee to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, was caught on tape offering access to key members of the Bush administration inner circle in exchange for “six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush’s presidency.”
In an undercover video, Payne is seen promising to arrange a meeting for an exiled leader of Krygystan with Dick Cheney or Condoleezza Rice. (Not President Bush because “he doesn’t meet with a lot of former Presidents these days,” Payne says. “I don’t think he meets with hardly anyone.”) All it will take for him to arrange this high-level meeting, says Payne, is “a couple hundred thousand dollars, or something like that”:
PAYNE: The exact budget I will come up with. But it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library. […]
200, 250, something like that. That’s gonna be a show of “we’re interested, we’re your friends, we’re still friends.”
Watch the startling video here.
The Times reports, “The revelation confirms long-held suspicions that favours are being offered in return for donations to the libraries which outgoing presidents set up to house their archives and safeguard their political legacies.” Bush loyalists previously said they had “identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential ‘mega’ donors” to the Bush library.
The Department of Homeland Security website reports that the “Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary on matters related to homeland security.” Payne has been a member of the council since August 2007.
In Jan. 2008, Payne — an early supporter of Rudy Giuliani — said he would throw his support to John McCain if Giuliani dropped out. A personal friend of Bush, Payne has helped clear brush on the Crawford Ranch with the President (see the picture on the right).
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It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club.”
July 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm-George Carlin
Unfreakingbelievable.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:28 pmJust another high-priced whore selling favors. Why would anyone with any semblance of sanity give that much money to meet with the likes of Cheney or Rice? I wouldn’t give $1.00 to be anywhere near these maniacs! And just what is going to be in this “library”, a copy of My Pet Goat? A ripped up copy of the constitution? A photo of Jeff Gannon signed “Affectionately, with Love?” What, of any value, could they possibly put in there?
July 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pmThe revelations TO COME out of this Failed Administration will be ASTOUNDING . . . even MORE reason to dump Pelosi down a dry well and fill it with shredded Cheney Energy Task Force meeting notes . . . .
July 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pmOf course their extorting money to build Bush’s library. How else are they gonna do it?
July 12th, 2008 at 9:33 pmisn’t the TIMES a murdoch paper? does that matter?
“The revelation confirms long-held suspicions that favours are being offered in return for donations to the libraries…”
i had no idea anyone needed confirmation…
July 12th, 2008 at 9:35 pmBathtub Gin Says:
Blah blah. No surprise that you have no moral compunctions at all about selling access to high government officials, Gin.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:53 pmI still think George Bush’s library is going to be the first American presidential library floating on the earth’s seas, because no one wants it near them! Besides that, it will be the size of a plastic boat you’d buy your toddler because there will nothing to put in it since the fascist bastards have destroyed their paper trails! Spit. Gawd I hate them.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:54 pmdemo of a new tune I wrote today called “they call me John Brown”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrU3CzZM6U
July 12th, 2008 at 10:01 pmAnd I suppose these little consultation luncheons are bought and paid for by your local Homeland Security Dept. These people make the Mafioso look like amateurs.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:05 pmTanqueray - i’m curious… do you own a speed boat?
July 12th, 2008 at 10:05 pmNice tune, OldHack. John Brown not nice. ;-)
July 12th, 2008 at 10:06 pmAll I can say is BUSTED! Next!
July 12th, 2008 at 10:24 pmLet me save you “big donors” a bit of cash. Here’s the Bush “legacy:” Iraq. That Bush would place his legacy in the hands of derelicts like Rumsfeld, Bremer, Perle, and Feith should speak volumes about how successful Bush intended to be in Iraq.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:32 pm“… between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library. […]
200, 250, something like that. That’s gonna be a show of “we’re interested, we’re your friends, we’re still friends.”
what happens to the $400-500,000 difference?
July 12th, 2008 at 10:34 pmHow convenient for Bathtub Gin that all she hears is “soliciting donations for a library” and misses the part about “in exchange for access to the Vice-President or Secretary of State.
What must grade school have been like for Bathtub Gin? My guess is she heard lots of “shows improvement” and never heard the “but still lags behind her classmates”.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:39 pmDid he ever say who’d get the other 2/3?
July 12th, 2008 at 10:40 pmTanqueray Says:
Blah blah blah Clinton Did It Too!™
July 12th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Congrats, Bathtub Gin! We haven’t had a good Clinton Did It Too!™ in days around here. Trust ol’ Ginny to spin a classic at just the right time.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:42 pmHow else is that library gonna get built? No one is going to voluntarily give to have it built.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pmSorry, badmoonman… I didn’t see your comment.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:49 pm“Clinton did it too!”
July 12th, 2008 at 11:00 pm~Tanqueray
chimpy: give to my lieberry and I’ll tell you turd’s secrets.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:04 pmThese Bush personality cult followers are a-ok with Republican corruption as long as they can say “Clinton (or Carter, or FDR, or Kennedy) did it too! “.
Thanks for proving -once more- reichwingers have no moral compass, Tanqueray.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:05 pmI think the other 2/3 will be used for the repugs’ defense fund.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:07 pmA Homeland Security official selling access to high-ranking politicians?
One wonders what else is up for sale. So much for “security” in “Homeland Security”…
July 12th, 2008 at 11:09 pm“Clinton did it too!”
July 12th, 2008 at 11:17 pmNo sign that it’s right; good sign that it’s wrong. Clinton was nothing but halftime entertainment for the Bushes.
And also, tell the Methodists about this and tell SMU.
tanq.
no fist tap,
bro?
:)
good luck.
!
July 12th, 2008 at 11:17 pmWhy don’t they just buy a donor list? These whores by influence from everyone anyhow.
But were the Clinton donors promised access to high government officials?
Didn’t think so.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:23 pmjoe cantwell Says:
tanq.
no fist tap,
bro?
:)
good luck.
!
he does enough tapping in the men’s room.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:26 pmThe party of unbridled greed and corruption. The Goobers of Politics.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:26 pmLet’s see how McCain bear-hugs this little revelation. Will he be forced to repudiate Bush - and thereby alienate the only voters he has left?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:27 pmWow. I’m legitimately surprised. I thought the Bush administration people were better than this, I really did. Video evidence? Such incompetence. I would have expected a true Bushie would have been more careful about hiding obvious lawbreaking in such a way that even when you know the truth, you can’t really prove it because the Bushie pleads the 5th or ignores a subpoena or “can’t recall” or just lies. Video evidence? Amateur mistake. Rank amateur. Definitely not the professionalism I’ve come to expect from the Bush administration.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:32 pmTruth hurts, eh, Tanqueray?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:32 pmTanqueray Says:
Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to 1968. It’s our only hope!
Golly, Mr. Tanqueray, should you even be traveling in your current state?
And get me another drink, lad…
July 12th, 2008 at 11:33 pmClinton library!
Arabs!
Get it!
July 12th, 2008 at 11:34 pmThe last time I checked, every member of the administration from the President on down was a public servant. Their time, and access to them, should not be a commodity for sale.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:35 pma colorful colloquialism about bears and woods springs to mind..
July 12th, 2008 at 11:36 pm>Clinton library!
F$ck clinton.
F#ck you.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:37 pmNo laws broken!
Access to Bush officials!
“Get your very own Bush Medal of Freedom!
Or buy a set of two!
They make awesome cufflinks…“
July 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pmWe never would have imagined this…
I love the Niavete’ of the loyal Goopers. So quaint.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:41 pmone more time:
katy Says:
Tanqueray - i’m curious… do you own a speed boat?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:43 pmJuly 12th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Wait, in 2000 Bush said he was going to “bring honor and dignity to White House”! I’m starting to believe he was not being honest with that statement. Anyone else feel that way, or is it just me?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:46 pmWe can probably assume that this type of soliciting is widespread. I wonder if he could pay the fee with money that was “lost” in Iraq.
He mentioned Joe Biden. Could he be implicated in this influence peddling too?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:48 pmTanq’s speedboat only floats in his tub.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:53 pmMauro, what in the last seven years could have possibly led you to the conclusion that BushCo was any better than this?
Incompetence is the hallmark of this administration. They’ve given perfect testimony on the issue of why it’s a bad idea to put people who don’t think government can be effective, in charge of the government.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:58 pmY’know,,, now that you mention it…
July 13th, 2008 at 12:00 amthe trolls
are desperate
tonight,
aren’t they?
:)
good luck.
*
July 13th, 2008 at 12:01 amAnd it gets flipped upside by an underwater stream surprisingly often.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:01 amJohn Kerry Says:
Clinton library!
Arabs!
Get it!
chimpy lieberry!
nazi!
white sheets!
get it!
July 13th, 2008 at 12:03 amralph the wonder llama Says:
Incompetence is the hallmark of this administration. They’ve given perfect testimony on the issue of why it’s a bad idea to put people who don’t think government can be effective, in charge of the government.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
You’ve hit the nail on the head (yet again), ralph. Conservatives campaign for office on an anti-government platform, and then proceed to show everyone exactly what could go wrong with government in the hands of people who oppose it or, worse still as we have now, people who see nothing wrong with equating the nation’s needs with their own, and working to further their own needs.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:04 amtang,
July 13th, 2008 at 12:12 amPlease go back to little green phlem balls or somewhere.
If you watch the video or read the transcript closely, Payne is non-committal on just who this guy will get to meet for his “donation.” The important thing, Payne says, is that the White House will issue a statement in support of this “donor.” So it’s not just access he’s selling, he’s selling foreign policy stances! That’s a stench of a different odor!
July 13th, 2008 at 12:14 amralph@#53, I thought it was a stream of bubbles, like in the Bermuda Triangle??
July 13th, 2008 at 12:15 amWill Bush tell us tomorrow that Stephen Payne doesn’t speak for him, just like McSame said about his economic advisor?
July 13th, 2008 at 12:31 amwe have the mostest bestest government money can buy!
July 13th, 2008 at 12:36 amBriseadh na Faire
Don’t forget God given and on the face of the earth! LOL Gotta love Syephen Colbert.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:56 amStephen that is, my but it has gotten late on me here.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:57 amdon’t blame me. I voted for Ni4D
heard my new tune yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrU3CzZM6U
July 13th, 2008 at 3:59 amYes, THIS is what our government is currently working on. Sounds about right.
July 13th, 2008 at 4:00 amFrank Rich … on the Dept. of Homeland Security:
In last Sunday’s Washington Post, the national security expert Daniel Benjamin sounded an alarm about the “chronic” indecisiveness and poor execution of Bush national security policy as well as the continuing inadequacies of the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ realestate/ ?nid=top_realestate
And so we’re back where we started in the summer of 2001. We are once again distracted and unprepared while the Taliban and bin Laden’s minions multiply in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This, no less than the defiling of the Constitution, is the legacy of an administration that not merely rationalized the immorality of torture but shackled our national security to the absurdity that torture could easily fix the terrorist threat.
That’s why the Bush White House’s corruption in the end surpasses Nixon’s. We can no longer take cold comfort in the Watergate maxim that the cover-up was worse than the crime. This time the crime is worse than the cover-up, and the punishment could rain down on us all.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:52 amThe MsM will be ignoring this story in 3…..2……..
July 13th, 2008 at 7:58 amSorry… wrong link.
Daniel Benjamin’s article in the Washington Post is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2008/ 07/ 02/ AR2008070202151.html
On one key issue after another, from the Middle East to North Korea to the Department of Homeland Security, Bush has proven himself to be a dawdler, a foot-dragger who can’t make fundamental choices or press his team to follow his commands. Call him the non-decider.
July 13th, 2008 at 8:05 amNo thanks. I’ll gladly donate five bucks to the George Bush Memorial Sewage Treatment Facility in San Francisco, though.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:30 amNow that the story is in the open…what are Pelosi and the Congress going to do about it..?!
May be nothing..!!
July 13th, 2008 at 9:54 amBecause Bush probably knows a lot about what’s inside their closets.
Quick! Someone get Steny on the blower. We need a bill making bribery legal.
(sigh)
July 13th, 2008 at 9:57 amHow is this news? The surprise would be if the Bush crime family were NOT selling favors. When I consider possible actions by this corrupt administration and its GOP flunkies, I always expect the most corrupt, perfidious and debased act. So far, the Bush Administration has never proven me wrong.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:43 ammauro7inf said:
No surprise really. Bush didn’t destroy this country through competence and professionalism, he did it with pugnacious audacity. Covering their tracks has never been a high priority with this administration because they’ve yet to be held accountable for anything they’ve done.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 13th, 2008 at 11:11 amAn additional thought . . . . . does anyone believe that this is the one and instance of the Bush Admin selling favors, and that luckily, this one and only instance was caught on tape.
Seems that the visitor list to Cheney, Rice, the NSA adivsors etal should be scoured to identify other folks who didn’t get as much camera time as this.
As was true in Nixon’s day, and is true today, one needs to follow the money.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:17 am17. Tanqueray Says:
Clinton did it!
What are these asshats going to be able to use when Obama is president. It will be long past “Clinton did it”. And we are going to have buckets of “Bush did it” examples to fill in the gaps. But, progressives don’t use as excuses for bad behavior the fact that someone else did the same thing. Progressives hold their leader’s feet to the fire and hold them accountable.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:38 amBush’s personal travel aide during his father’s 1988 Presidential campaign
More like Gannon’s visits to the WH I’m sure -
July 13th, 2008 at 11:43 amBBB(Big Burly Buttfu(ker).
If our media and politicians weren’t so corrupt, this would be the top story today and it would be spreading like wildfire. Was this mentioned on the Sunday morning bobblehead shows? Are the Democrats pouncing on this?
July 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pmi got my answer, tanqueray…
July 13th, 2008 at 12:59 pmi’m guessing, by the time of your posts, that you’re not in the
midwest, and the guy i did the painting for, though a snob, was
NOT an azzhole.
What do you expect from an administration, which celebrates the gospel of the free market (and spends billions on awarding no bid contracts to its cronies)?
We know for sure (backed by court hearings in Florida) that the US did not have a free election in 2004, and Bush was elected by the Supreme Court in 2000. We actually have no idea when the last free and fair election in the US took place if there has ever been one.
So therefore, do not believe anything you read about democracy in your school books, because “it is all about economy, stupid”, about supply and demand.
An awake US public, if there will ever be one, will know that democracy may be worth dying for in Iraq, but it has no place in real American politics. Therefore, forget about democracy and focus on selling or rather leasing your freedom once every four years at a fair market price!
The best way of doing that is to replace the costly presidential election with a public tender for government. That will allow the socially conscious business to form consortia to bid, representing big oil, pharmaceuticals, junk food and entertainment.
The beauty of it all is that it will be possible to define in advance the terms of reference for the bidding process. It will for instance be possible to define the bidding to be for the deay to day domestic administration of the American society.
Respecting the core values of market economy the contract for the administration of the US may be limited to administration of the country in peace and without any economic assistance to other countries. Such extraordinary investments should be floated as investment proposal in the general public, which will then be able to make its informed decision whether or not annihilation of Iran with nuclear weapons should be rated as more important in the family budget than for instance health care and education of the next generation.
Giving up the idea of democracy may be hard at first, but where would you get a better deal?
July 13th, 2008 at 2:30 pmAh all those people who voted for this kind of morality? Kinda duped huh? So much for the non moral right.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pmWeel at least this lets us know the cost of the political hooker.
July 13th, 2008 at 5:24 pmThick As Thieves! …and as such they should be treated.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:59 pm