Washington Babylon — July 13, 2008, 8:45 am
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The Sunday Times carried out an undercover sting, in which lobbyist and former Bush administration official Stephen Payne thought he was meeting “Eric Dos,” a man seeking to arrange meetings in Washington for Askar Akayev, the former president of Kyrgyzstan.
“Who does he want to meet with in Washington?” asked [Payne]. Dos replied: “Well of course, maybe the president of the United States, vice-president Cheney, to speak maybe directly to explain the situation in central Asia . . . To give his side of the story. These kind of things.”
“I think that some things could be done,” said Payne, adding that seeing Bush himself might be more difficult. With barely a pause, he continued: “I think that the family, children, whatever [of Akayev], should probably look at making a contribution to the Bush library. It would be like, maybe a couple of hundred thousand dollars, or something like that, not a huge amount but enough to show that they’re serious.”
Read the full story and make sure to watch the wonderful video of Payne selling access, too.
More from Ken Silverstein:
Commentary — July 25, 2012, 2:20 pm
Washington Babylon — September 29, 2010, 11:37 am
Lucas Mann on hope and change in a minor-league-baseball city
Minimum number of baboons forced to smoke crack in a 1989 study testing the efficacy of cigarettes as a drug delivery device:
A reduction in distrust toward atheists was documented among pious Canadians who are reminded of the Vancouver police.
A Missouri cinema apologized for hiring an actor dressed in body armor and carrying a fake rifle to appear at a screening of Iron Man 3.
Winner of the 2012 Olivier Rebbot Award for best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines or books
