Common Cause Blog :: presidential libraries

Common Cause - Holding Power Responsible

Money in Politics

Election Reform

Media and Democracy

Ethics in Government

Government Accountability

Research

Common Blog

How much to meet with Cheney?

By Josh Zaharoff
Posted on Mon Jul 14, 2008 at 12:20:44 PM EST

About $250,000, apparently. The Times of London did an undercover investigation into prominent Republican fundraiser Stephen Payne.

They caught Payne on video saying that, in exchange for a contribution of $250,000 to the Bush presidential library fund, he could help coordinate this "former President" of a central Asian country (actually an undercover agent working for the paper) meeting with Vice President Cheney and perhaps Secretary of State Rice. (emphasis mine)

During an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times, Payne was asked to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president. He outlined the cost of facilitating such access.

"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," said Payne, who sits on the US homeland security advisory council.

Click "Read More" for the rest...
General News :: Entry Link :: Read More :: Comment
Tags: presidential libraries, money in politics, corruption (all tags)

Darkened windows on the Clinton library

By Josh Zaharoff
Posted on Thu Apr 03, 2008 at 04:08:37 PM EST

USA Today's editorial board makes the case for disclosure of the donor list for the $500 million Clinton Presidential Library.

That is an enormous amount for someone to be raising from friends, business partners, foreign governments and interested parties who are either barred from making campaign contributions or limited to the $2,300 maximum. Because of the former president's unusual position and the sheer size of this conduit into a potential presidential administration, the complete list of donors should be made public.