News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinecabal-elitew-administrationbig-money — Viewing Item


Donors stay in the lincoln bedroom

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=15854

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=15854

AP: White House Guests Include GOP Donors

nWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush played host to dozens of overnight guests at the White House and Camp David last year, from world leaders to some of his most loyal supporters, including friends who double as campaign fund-raisers.

Bush and first lady Laura Bush have invited at least 270 people to stay at the White House and at least the same number to overnight at the Camp David retreat since coming to Washington in January 2001, according to lists the White House provided The Associated Press.

Elton Bomer, a lobbyist, Bush donor and former Democratic lawmaker who served in then-Texas Gov. Bush's administration, said his stay in the White House living quarters was like visiting friends in a "a very nice home."

"The mattresses are very, very nice and the pillows are very nice," said Bomer, who visited in October 2002 with about 18 other Texans. "It's not ostentatious at all. There's no gilded gold leaf or anything like that."

Some Bush guests stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom, a historic room that gained fame in the Clinton administration amid allegations that Democrats were rewarding big donors such as Hollywood celebrities Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand with accommodations there. In all, the Clinton family invited at least 938 overnight guests to the White House in their first four years.

Bush's criticism of the Clinton fund-raising scandal is one of the reasons the White House identifies guests. In a debate with Vice President Al Gore in October 2000, Bush said: "I believe they've moved that sign, 'The buck stops here,' from the Oval Office desk to 'The buck stops here' on the Lincoln Bedroom. And that's not good for the country."

Bush's overnight guest roster is virtually free of the famous - pro golfer Ben Crenshaw is the biggest name - but not of campaign supporters.

At least nine of Bush's biggest fund-raisers appear on the latest list of White House overnight guests, covering June 2002 through December 2003, and-or on the Camp David list, which covers last year. They include:

-Mercer Reynolds, an Ohio financier, former Bush partner in the Texas Rangers baseball team and former ambassador to Switzerland. Reynolds is leading Bush's campaign fund-raising effort. He was a guest at the White House and the Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains.

-Brad Freeman, a venture capitalist who is leading Bush's California fund-raising effort, has raised at least $200,000 for his re-election campaign and is also a major Republican Party fund-raiser. Freeman stayed at the White House.

-Roland Betts, who raised at least $100,000 for Bush in 2000, was a Bush fraternity brother at Yale and a Texas Rangers partner. Betts stayed at the White House and Camp David.

-William DeWitt, a Bush partner in the oil business and Texas Rangers who has raised at least $200,000 for Bush's re-election effort, stayed at the White House.

-James Francis, who headed the Bush campaign's 2000 team of $100,000-and-up volunteer fund-raisers and was a Bush appointee in Texas when Bush was governor. Francis was a White House guest.

-Joseph O'Neill, an oilman and childhood friend who introduced Bush to Laura Bush and raised at least $100,000 for each of Bush's presidential campaigns, stayed at the White House.

-Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and New York Gov. George Pataki, who each raised at least $200,000 for Bush's re-election campaign, were White House guests.

-James Langdon, who raised at least $100,000 for Bush, is a Washington attorney specializing in international oil and gas transactions. Langdon, whose clients include the Russian oil company Lukoil, is a member of Bush's foreign intelligence advisory board and served on Bush's 2000 presidential transition team on energy policy.

"Some of these guests are old classmates, some of them have been friends of theirs for many, many years," White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said. "They enjoy the opportunity to spend time with them."

Langdon, who stayed at Camp David a few weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin did last September, said Bush's invitations to him and the other fund-raisers differ from the allegations of the Clinton years.

"Of course I'm a fund-raiser - I support him in every way I can. But my relationship with him and his wife and his family spans more than three decades," said Langdon, a friend since Bush's early years in Texas. "I certainly don't need to be rewarded with a trip to Camp David for doing what I'm doing."

Guests do not have to reimburse the government for their stays.

Los Angeles attorney Donald Etra stayed at Camp David once and the White House several times. Etra, a Bush classmate at Yale, said he and his wife were invited as friends, not because they are donors. Each gave Bush $1,000 in 2000.

Describing a Lincoln Bedroom stay, Etra said it is almost impossible to sleep.

"It is so unbelievably exciting and unbelievable that you are staying in the White House," he said. "One hesitates to put a coffee cup down on the coffee table because there's an original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation under glass."

Associated Press



drug-bill
energy-bill
mines
social-security
2006 cuts in domestic spending across the board { May 27 2004 }
42 senators millionaires
Abramoff tied to white house photographed with bush
Advocates of war now profit from iraq reconstruction { July 14 2004 }
Bankruptcy law tough on katrina victims { September 8 2005 }
Bill making bankruptcy difficulty passes { April 15 2005 }
Bush aids finances detailed { June 16 2003 }
Bush appoints telecom lobbyist to fcc { February 4 2006 }
Bush budget cost more billions
Bush campaign raises 84m { October 14 2003 }
Bush charges 9m for african president meeting { November 10 2005 }
Bush enron ties in spotlight
Bush protects pharmaceutical and insurance from lawyers
Bush raises millions california { June 28 2003 }
Bush rejects tax on oil windfall profits { March 2006 }
Bush replaces government jobs with private contracts { April 18 2005 }
Bush signs law curbing class action lawsuits
Bush signs transportation bill full of pork { August 11 2005 }
Bush slashes domestic programs boosts defense
Bush turns to big military contractors for border control { May 18 2006 }
Bush wants to protect telecomm companies { February 12 2008 }
Chinese mega bucks for bush brothers { December 16 2003 }
Corporate power is US driving force { July 15 2004 }
Delays corporate gop fundraising investigated { July 12 2004 }
Donors stay in the lincoln bedroom
Energy bill exploits katrina to pay off oil industry { October 5 2005 }
Enron money helped GOP redistribution effort { July 12 2004 }
Financial firms are bushs biggest donors { January 9 2004 }
Fundraiser denies link between money access { May 17 2004 }
Goldman sachs workers big donations to bush { August 20 2004 }
GOP K street lobbyists access
Gop lobbyists invisible powerful world
Gop reaping in lobbyists { June 26 2003 }
Gop to renew tax cut for wealthy { May 10 2006 }
Gop uses katrina to ease energy laws { September 28 2005 }
Halliburton secret nobid iraq work contracts { June 16 2004 }
Healthcare overhaul is quietly underway { January 31 2005 }
House energy bill will foul air
Ken lay blames friendship with bush
Lobbyist appointed leader gop { June 17 2003 }
Lobbyist defends 800k contingency fee { January 4 2004 }
Lobbyists hire lawmakers kid { June 22 2003 }
Lobbyists kids not alright { June 24 2003 }
Lobbyists senators sons { June 23 2003 }
Mccain wants local business rebuilding instead of halliburton
More area money goes to bush
Oil lobbyist watered down climate research { June 9 2005 }
Power elite george w
Record deficit rein in domestic costs { January 4 2004 }
Refinery bill guts clean air pollution standards
Republicans are the big spenders { August 4 2005 }
Republicans backed by big business block labor bill { June 26 2007 }
Republicans conflicting loyalities to oil industry { May 4 2006 }
Rumsfeld sold ownership in pentagon contractors
Security aids switch to lobbying { April 29 2003 }
Senate approves 447b defense budget
Senate passes large corporate tax legislation { October 11 2004 }
Senate refuses to close wealthy loophole on bankruptcy
Senators financial holdings revealed { June 14 2003 }
Spending surges to historic level
Thanksgiving brings feeding frenzy round pork barrel { November 26 2003 }
The gop machine made bush supreme
Top campaign donors trade with iran iraq
Two bills benefit top bush fundraisers { November 22 2003 }
Wall street bush biggest donor { October 23 2003 }
Washington insiders consults contracts { September 30 2003 }
Wealthier vote back bush

Files Listed: 67



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple