Payne admits selling access could be ‘perceived to be bribery,’ but insists it’s legal.
Filed Under: Ethics
By on Jul 14th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Payne admits selling access could be ‘perceived to be bribery,’ but insists it’s legal.
According to CNN, longtime associate of President Bush, Stephen Payne, is now admitting that his selling of access to Bush administration officials could be “perceived to be bribery.” Payne still insists, however, that there was no “quid pro quo” for the donations which he solicited. Instead, he said, the Sunday Times is “engaging in ‘gotcha journalism.’” Watch it:
The administration could clear up any “perceptions” of impropriety by allowing the public to view the White House visitor logs. Earlier today, however, the White House refused to release them, citing “lawsuits and things.”
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Oily little pimp. The best and the brightest of the Bush Administration.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:03 pmIf it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck……..
July 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pmI would love to see the next minute of this tape. How much crime is enough?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pmZooey,
July 14th, 2008 at 11:12 pmYou are up late!
Enough crime is never enough for these corrupt people. They don’t even try to hide it anymore. When will they be held responsible?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:13 pm“gotcha?” How about Mayor-Marion-Barry-with-the-crack-pipe-in-the-mouth busted?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:14 pmAnd I imagine shoving your foot under a bathroom stall and tapping out a code might be perceived as wanting some “man action” in some circles, but it’s perfectly legal to have a wide stance when your dropping off the kids at the pool.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:14 pmLegal or not it’s slimey. And it’s the same thing Republicans were up in arms about Clinton doing so it’s hypocritical as well. In other words, it’s perfectly Republican.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 14th, 2008 at 11:16 pmMe: Hey, my old pal kdoug! I’d like you to meet my friend Zooey. I think you two have a lot of interests in common.
Kdoug: Great…Hi Zooey
Me: Hey, not so fast! I can’t let you meet Zooey for anything less than $750,000. It’s a finders fee.
Kdoug: Well as long as it’s legal.
Me: Oh by the way,you owe me another $750,000.
kdoug: For what?
Me:For meeting me of course!
Kdoug: well in that case you owe me the same amount for meeting me, so we’re even.
Me: Except for my finder’s fee for you meeting me, so, hand it over. It’s perfectly legal!
kdoug: And what does Zooey get out of this?
me: ‘pimped’. I’d say.
Aaannnddd…….Scene!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:23 pmCan he sell me a night’s stay in the Lincoln Bedroom?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:24 pmIf you get away with it, its good strategy. If you get caught, its ‘gotcha’ journalism. What this really points out is that they are having trouble getting enough money together for the Bush Library. Why don’t they just use a FEMA trailer. It would be more than large enough to house whatever Bush has to offer as his presidential legacy.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:27 pmIt’s Rodan, everyone!Rodan has learned to cut and paste a new sentence!. Well done Rodan!
(hmmm, could Rodan actually be John McCain finally taking his first wobbly steps on the intertubes?….I wonder…..)
July 14th, 2008 at 11:27 pmIt’s only bribery if you get caught and convicted, so I guess he is technically right.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:35 pmWelcome to the fray, Enlarged Pteradactyl and Bishop of Urine.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:36 pmI’m shooting for controlling the access to the prison where these mofos are going to be stashed for the next thirty years or so.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pmAnd the rotten vegetable and overripe cheeses concession.
RU,
looks like Dumber and Dumbest are back. Can’t say I missed them but then they do provide a few laughs before their meth rants start up.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:38 pmThere seems to be a bit of gibberish splattering around tonight. I guess someones game controller must have broken.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:39 pmTrahan aka Rodan hasn’t denied being a child molester, so that confirms it. It’s true!!
Mr P, how’s that philosophy degree coming along….? Have you learned anything more than moron-wrangling?
Ugh…nevermind. I forgot I never cared….zzzzzzzzzzz
July 14th, 2008 at 11:40 pmLooks like the trolls are getting desperate. Are we supposed to be getting upset at their ranting? Well, at least they aren’t out on the streets spiking the crime rate.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pmStill no imagination from the Pee Brigade. I guess that takes maturity and life experience — two things these dingleberries are scared shitless about.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:45 pmYeah, it could be perceived as bribery, if a lawyer..and a judge..and a jury..looked at it. But they won’t because Bush has destroyed the DOJ and the court system. Makes you want to scream, huh?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:45 pmMr P!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:45 pmYou don’t know who Payne is?
Dude, he can hook you up with Condi!
Think about it!!!
5th Estate Says:
Aaannnddd…….Scene!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
That is hilarious. :-D
July 14th, 2008 at 11:48 pmZooey,
I have a cool House and money and my hand in my pocket.
There fixed it right up for ya.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 pmTrolls are ridiculous!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 pmRodan Says:
Think Progress is a smear machine. They smear people and then it filters to the media.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Wow. TP is POWERFUL!!!! No wonder you’re so scared of this place!! You should post more about TP on that blog you started. What is it called? Piss Slurpers Anonymous…?
Go change your pants, you disgusting troll.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 pmBuh bye, Pee trollies.
Heh.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:53 pmThe half-life of a piss-soaked troll is VERY short. Along with other things.
It’s been fun. Later, TPers. ;)
July 14th, 2008 at 11:55 pmUhhh Ohhhhh ….. Looks like our two meth ranters just got their keyboards decommissioned.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:55 pmLater Z!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:58 pm‘night z… ‘night RUC, ‘night upside..
July 15th, 2008 at 12:02 amTrajan:
July 15th, 2008 at 12:05 amIt is difficult to understand what you and your butt buddy Mr P are hoping to accomplish here tonight, but whatever it is, you are going to fail miserably.
You do understand that your behavior is going to go a long way to help discredit your master Eric Odom, Fresh Vision Media LLC, Olbermann Watch and Think Progress Watch, both of which you are contributors. Since Rush Limbaugh is a benefactor to Fresh Vision, he may as well be added to the list too.
Remember when you were boasting about making it as a big time blogger, that is now just a pipe dream. Your big mistake was to brag about this attack online. You do realize that if you hadn’t made that threat in a fit of rage, you wouldn’t now be reduced to being just a mere brainless troll.
I am curious, is it true that Eric is allowing you to compensate him for the bail he posted, by working it off on your a$$.?
Uh-oh… I guess Faiz changed his mind, eh, Pee?
July 15th, 2008 at 12:06 amI disagree.
Even if Twajie hadn’t made that threat, he would still be reduced to being just a braindead troll.
Some eventualities just can’t be helped.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:08 amAwe dang it! I was to late for the Troll edumecationing!
July 15th, 2008 at 12:19 amLOL, did I miss much?
“Even if Twajie hadn’t made that threat, he would still be reduced to being just a braindead troll.
Some eventualities just can’t be helped.”
Ralh, I agree with you 100%, they were going to come out of here looking like morons regardless whether the attack was a secret or not.
What I was referring to was Trajan’s blogging career at Fresh Vision Media, Think Progress and Olbermann Watch. His stock has gone down faster than than Trajan going down on a cash paying john at a truck stop.
Oh well, looks like he won’t be replacing Jeff Gannon any time soon as the blogging boy toy of choice for GWB. It was a long shot anyway, because with that simian face, all action would have to be done in the darl or at least with Trajan wearing a paper bag over his head.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:26 amTorture isn’t torture.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:00 amBribes aren’t bribes.
The economic global depression is only in your mind.
War is Peace.
And Rush Limbaugh is worth almost a 1/2 Billion dollars.
Cole Porter would spin if he could see what goes now…
.
Well,
I suppose you could say a bank robber makes a withdrawal…
.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:10 am.
Didn’t Spiro Agnew resign due to an envelope found in his possession?
.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:15 amIf we believe the Bush administration’s spinmeisters, this looks like a bribery but isn’t, just like what was happening at Abu Ghraib looked like torture but wasn’t.
Along the same lines, the US troops in Iraq look like an occupation but isn’t.
If you believed any of the above, I have a bridge you might be interested in buying. I can even give you a discount.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:22 amBy ““lawsuits and things,” I think they mean lynch mobs.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:36 amDear Mr. Payne,
Perceptions are reality. Are you an idiot? You say that in such a glib way as if to say, “So what?”
Some perceptions are common sense and that’s why the American public perceives the Bush & Friends Administration as a bunch of lying, spying, bribe-taking, ass sucking, sons and daughter-killing thugs. It’s funny how perceptions often match the truth.
Perceptions have their place, as do ropes and trees.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:43 amHis argument is correct according to the administration’s rules. These rules hold, for example, that waterboarding does not constitute torture. After, “america doesn’t torture people” rather, we engage conduct “harsh interrogation techniques.”
So, if waterboarding is not torture, then paying large sums of cash to meet with the president so he can provide favors does not constitute bribery, but it is instead “free market negotiations.” And, everyone knows that America loves free markets as much as freedom itself. Because remember if you’re against freedom (e.g., by not wearing flag lapel pins, criticizing GOP leaders or Fox News, thinking logically and rationally), you are emboldening the terrorists, and if you embolden the terrorists then we have to fight them over here.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:47 amCan you imagine the reaction of the media and the neo-cons if this had happened in the Clinton administration? As long as Bush remains in office, the criminals are free to move about the country.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:35 amOh, those Shrubbies (et. al.) are SO gonna burn in hell.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:26 amFor some reason the words “crime syndicate” and “RICO laws” keep popping into my head. When this story broke, I remember that Payne had said that something like 20-30% of the donations would actually go to the Bush Lieberry. Where does the rest of the money go? Oh, and Bush says he barely knew Payne. May have met him once or twice. Didn’t the Shrub say the exact same thing about Abramoff and Ken Lay??
July 15th, 2008 at 9:34 amRelease the WH visiotrs logs!! Let’s see how often the shrub met with Jeff Gannon, Abramoff, Payne etal! The public has every right to know who is visiting OUR HOUSE!
July 15th, 2008 at 9:36 amisn’t bribery a “high crime or misdemeanor”?
July 15th, 2008 at 9:49 amI don’t doubt for a minute that bribery is legal in Washington. Congress sold us down the river and have we ever seen an elected official languish in poverty?
Our Congress persons who are honest are not considered “serious” by the courtisans and their minions.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:13 amAfter all, what makes a serious person?….Making Money!
What’s really sad is it probably IS legal. This is America ya know where being a traitor is legal but god forbid they catch you with a joint or hiring a hooker.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:32 amLet me help out the trolls:
If you stop your car on the street and give money to a fellow so that a lady gets in the car and goes to your apartment, it **could** be construed to be ____________ ? Or you could be running a rescue mission to help young ladies get their GED. We don’t really know what happened.
Innocent until proven guilty
Clinton did it first.
The tape was photoshopped.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:50 am