Foreigners Out?
Beyond giving work to Congressional and Homeland Security investigators, the Bush Library pay to play scandal has generated renewed attention to just who pays for these hulking mausoleum/fun-zones. Past and future Librarians rush to assure us that none of that foreign cash shall corrupt our American values, at least not while we have a job.
The Bush policy is clear-ish:
“Faced Monday with a report that a rogue lobbyist urged an exiled Central Asian leader to support the Bush library to curry favor in Washington, library officials promised that no foreign money will be accepted until President Bush leaves office. On Tuesday, it became clear the public will have to take them at their word…The foundation isn’t promising to identify all donors, or the dates and sums of their gifts.”
While the Clinton camp took a bold stance on the past, before retreating into mist:
“President Bill Clinton didn’t accept donations from foreign governments for his presidential library while he was in office, Skip Rutherford, who was president of the Clinton Foundation in 2000, told us. Rutherford couldn’t remember if the policy meant donations from foreign citizens also were prohibited.”
And we were reminded yet again why we have no Presidential Library disclosure law on the books: