I guess the Bush pals are getting careless or desperate as Bush's term runs out. This guy certainly was open and casual about selling politicial influence.
Today, CREW sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for an investigation into whether lobbyist Stephen Payne violated any criminal laws by offering to arrange meetings with top administration officials in return for a contribution to the Bush library and a substantial commission for serving as a go-between, and whether any administration officials broke the law by participating in a scheme to sell meetings for contributions. The letter to DOJ can be found here.
The Times of London has reported that a Times investigator asked Mr. Payne to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president. Mr. Payne can be seen on videotape saying that such meetings can be arranged for “somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library.” The balance would go to Mr. Payne’s lobbying firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners. When asked which officials might be available to meet for that price, Mr. Payne replied, “Cheney’s possible, definitely the national security adviser [Stephen Hadley], definitely either Dr. Rice or . . . I think a meeting with Dr. Rice or the deputy secretary [John Negroponte] is possible . . .”
Mr. Payne is a top Bush donor who raised more than $100,000 for the 2000 presidential election and another $200,000 for the president’s 2004 re-election campaign. He is also a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council and has accompanied President Bush and Vice President Cheney on foreign trips.
Federal law prohibits public officials from directly or indirectly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act. If Mr. Payne was authorized by any member of the Bush administration to trade meetings with top level officials in return for financial contributions to the Bush library, those officials may have violated the bribery statute. Similarly, by offering to serve as a conduit to deliver contributions to the Bush library in exchange for meetings with administration officials, Mr. Payne may have violated federal law.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today:
"It is clear from this week’s reporting that Mr. Payne is attempting to capitalize on his relationship with the President of the United States in a way that suggests United States foreign policy may be for sale to the highest bidder. Although the White House has denied any connection between official administration action and contributions to the library, considering Mr. Payne’s close ties to the White House, this simply is not credible. The Justice Department should immediately investigate if this administration is complicit in this or other contribution-for-meeting schemes with Mr. Payne."
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/33262