ABSCAM II

The video is as clear as day. Stephen Payne, a political appointee to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, is offering access to top-level Bush officials, including the Vice President, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, in exchange for $200,000 for the Bush Library. This is not some Al Gore phone call from the wrong office or the Buddhist temple fundraiser. This is documented pay-to-play.

Booman has a bit more on this. It's pretty clear from the tape that the individual donor in question was Askar Akayev, the former leader of Kyrgyzstan, who blamed the US for his recent ouster. On the tape, Payne intimates that the White House could help him get his job back:

Asked by an undercover reporter who the politician would be able to meet for that price, Payne said: “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 . . .

“The main thing is that he [the Asian politician] comes, and he’s well received, that he meets with high-level people . . . and we send positive statements made back from the administration about ‘This guy wasn’t such a bad guy, many people have done worse’.”

In other words, members of the administration would facilitate a future election campaign for Akayev by issuing positive statements about him. But they'll only do that if they see $200,000-$250,000 donated to the Bush Library first. It's sickening to watch our foreign policy get sold for such a pittance.

This is unambiguous, clear, corrupt, and you'll never hear about it other than on a few blogs and the British media. Twenty-five years ago our media understood scandals like this, especially where you had tape. Today, not so much.