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White House Dinner for Sale?
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ShareNovember 07, 2007 1:52 PM
A Las Vegas casino magnate, a North Carolina construction materials manufacturer and a Colorado oil executive were among the 17 major Republican donors invited to dine with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, along with U.S. and French officials, at last night's social dinner.
Campaign finance watchdogs say the Bush administration has taken a page from the Clinton White House and other previous administrations, reserving the coveted invitations for their most loyal supporters.
"These are longtime patrons of the Republican party," said Shiela Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "If it weren't for their money, they would not be there."
The donors on the guest list have raised and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars for Bush and the Republican party, according to an ABCNews.com analysis of campaign finance data on the Center for Responsive Politics Web site.
Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
Among the guests to attend was Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has contributed hundreds of the thousands of dollars to the Republican party and its candidates and more than $1 million to conservative advocacy groups.
Harold Simmons, another major donor in attendance, contributed $3 million to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group responsible for the controversial ads discrediting Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's military record during the 2004 campaign.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. ambassador to France and his predecessor both attended the dinner. They too, though, are major Republican donors.
The current ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, who is married to Bush's cousin, has contributed more than $85,000 to the Republican party and campaigns since 2000, and raised at least $200,000 for Bush's 2004 presidential campaign, making him a Bush "Ranger."
Stapleton's predecessor as U.S. ambassador to France, Howard Leach, a former finance chair for the Republican National Committee, has contributed more than $900,000 to the Republican party and campaigns since 1993. Leach raised at least $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, making him a Bush "Pioneer."
The Blotter reported in May that the guest list at the White House state dinner in honor of the Queen of England included 18 major Republican donors, including an Arizona car dealer, an interior designer and a former Enron executive.
Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?
November 7, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (25)
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What SCUM the Bush administration is.....
But, we all know that!!!!!!!
Posted by: Joe | Nov 7, 2007 2:25:44 PM
Bush is scum because he is buttering up his rich "friends" that gave him and his party a lot of money?? Keep your head in the clouds, Joe. I'll be down here in reality where he who has the most money can afford to run.
Posted by: Margaret | Nov 7, 2007 2:49:07 PM
The article says: "Campaign finance watchdogs say the Bush administration has taken a page from the Clinton White House." Anyone who copies Clinton is SCUM.
Posted by: Ricky Sims | Nov 7, 2007 3:11:51 PM
Nothing different than the Dems did when Bill Clinton was there. Did anyone get invited to stay in the Lincoln's bedroom?
Posted by: LongT | Nov 7, 2007 3:12:40 PM
But it was OK for Clinton and the dems.....what hypocrits.......But, we all know that!!!!!!!
Posted by: Lawrence Woznicki | Nov 7, 2007 3:15:57 PM
Bwaaaaaaaa, someone got snubbed from the dinner.
Posted by: TC Rider | Nov 7, 2007 3:18:33 PM
wonder if they did not have money how many of those people would got invited why does he not invite everyday people
Posted by: tina | Nov 7, 2007 3:22:00 PM
The president rewarded his campaign contributors with a fancy dinner at the White House. That's ABCNews' shocking expose - man has buddies over for dinner. Get a grip!
Posted by: Ed | Nov 7, 2007 3:46:51 PM
At least he didn't sell the Lincoln bedroom a la Clinton
Posted by: cam | Nov 7, 2007 3:48:19 PM
Ah yes! Invite the major donors of the repub party to the White House for a social dinner and let the tax payers pay for it. I want my money back.
Posted by: Jeannie | Nov 7, 2007 4:16:10 PM
Why is anyone surprised? This has been going on since he took the White House & he did very honestly say in a speech that the wealthy are his base. Reagan & Bush#1 did it also, but they didn't have an army of Rethuglicans looking over their shoulder so it wasn't as much of an issue.
Posted by: hachidori | Nov 7, 2007 4:40:40 PM
Love the hypocrisy of the republicans. They were all over Clinton but defend Bush for the same thing. I guess something is only wrong if a Democrat does it. Republicans truly have no values.
Posted by: Peter Dick Johnson | Nov 7, 2007 5:40:25 PM
I would rather see the white house used as a high class resturant than a Clinton Brothel with "Rev" Jackson providing spiritual love child making lessons to Bill and Hillary.
Posted by: Josh | Nov 7, 2007 8:10:32 PM
Let's see, here. Lame duck incumbent. No VP hoping to replace him. Time indeed to acknowledge the people who put Mr. Bush where he is.
I call that gratitude.
Posted by: quiller | Nov 7, 2007 11:15:41 PM
I couldn't care less who wines and dines or sleeps in the White House but where is the right wing who should be crying foul now? If it was out of line to sell the Lincoln bedroom then this is no different. Any of you going to step up and say GWB is playing politics with "your" house?
Posted by: dk | Nov 8, 2007 12:36:28 AM
at least it was only dinner--like other blogs before me. It wasnt the Lincoln bedroom for the night. Doesn't spending the night also get you breakfast? Dems 2-- reb. 1
Posted by: brian | Nov 8, 2007 7:56:26 AM
Yes, this has gone on w/ both Repubs and Dems...but what is mind boggling to me is that people are still donating $ to such a disliked, both nationally, and internationally, republican white house. Are you brian washed for life? Will you follow the republican party off the plank just because you are a registered republican. We are more polarized than ever b/c the American people arem more stubborn than ever.
Posted by: Greg | Nov 8, 2007 12:12:45 PM
Clinton sold night stays in the Lincoln Bedroom and white house dinners for tens of thousands of dollars that went directly to the DNC. you all seem to forget that.
Posted by: Kelly Nelson | Nov 8, 2007 1:31:58 PM
HEY! All you people b'in about the rich guests...look at the list! Quite a number of Dems, small-town politicos, and certainly a number of not-so-rich. I have always been a proponent of the White House inviting "regular" people to ALL White House functions, the people that donated $10, $50, etc.
Posted by: carlton | Nov 8, 2007 4:41:48 PM
The article states: "Stapleton's predecessor as U.S. ambassador to France, Howard Leach, a former finance chair for the Republican National Committee, has contributed more than $900,000 to the Republican party and campaigns since 1993."
Q: Where do these "privileged few" (especially the 'pay-us-in-cash and buy-a-diplomatic-title' mavens) get this extra ca$h to donate, on a government worker's salary?
I wish I had $900K just lying around to scoop up and donate... except that it would be donated to cancer research, Parkinson's research, Alzheimer's research, battered women's shelters, Ronald McDonald houses, animal rescue leagues, et al.
...just One Man's Opinion
Posted by: One Man's Opinion | Nov 9, 2007 5:05:49 AM
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