Guide Note

Stephen Payne is a high-profile lobbyist with close ties to the Bush Administration. Payne is the president of Worldwide Strategic Partners, a company that specializes in developing connections between its clients and members of the U.S. Government.¹

Fast Facts

1. President of Worldwide Strategic Partners²
2. Member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council¹
3. Has raised more the $1 million for the Republican Party²
4. Has joined George W. Bush and Dick Cheney on foreign trips³
5. Claims that he is in a deal with Mark Pritchard³
6. Pritchard denies having worked with Payne³

On July 13, 2008, The Sunday Times reported that Payne, a lobbyist and member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, agreed to accept donations to the George W. Bush Library in exchange for meetings arranged with top-level members of the Bush Administration.³

In an undercover video, Payne states that, for $250,000, an unnamed "Asian politician" could meet with Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice or Stephen Hadley.³

Donations to presidential libraries are not currently regulated. It has long been suspected that they have been used as a means for foreign politicians and lobbyists to buy access to high-level government officials. The Bush Administration has stated that it would not be influenced by such donations.³

On Monday, July 14, 2008, Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman wrote a letter to Payne inquiring whether he was authorized to solicit funds, how much he received, and what he did in order to get the funding. Waxman stated that if funds were solicited for President Bush's library in return for access to senior government officials, how foreign interests are influenced may be of concern.⁴