from ThinkProgress:
Perino: Bush ‘believes that he would have met’ Payne before.»In yesterday’s press conference, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino continued to downplay the long relationship between President Bush and his longtime fundraiser Stephen Payne, who was recently revealed to be selling access to Bush administration officials:
QUESTION: Does the President know Steve Payne?
PERINO: I think — yes, he believes that he would have met him before. I don’t think that he knows him all that well, but he has met him before. Certainly he’s been — Steve Payne has been somebody who’s been involved in Texas politics for a long time and been a supporter of the Republican Party. So he knows who he is.(…)
QUESTION: You don’t know if he could carry through on promises to help people get in touch with people at the White House?
PERINO: In terms of — look, I’m sure that he probably knows a lot of people throughout the administration, given his history. But it would be inappropriate to say that he could — for anybody to say that they could get anything done or any meeting done in exchange for a contribution to the library, or to the party, or anything else.
Bush’s “belief” that he’s met Payne before is well founded, as he and Payne have known each other for at least 20 years. A photo montage of the Payne’s long relationship with Bush and the White House can be seen here.
Perino’s claim that Payne would not able to deliver on his “promises” is unconvincing. As Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington executive director Melanie Sloan notes, Payne couldn’t charge his six-figure fees “if he couldn’t deliver.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/17/met-payne-before/