July/August 2004 Issue

Bush’s Foreign Exchange

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When George W. Bush took office, 1,700 of his campaign contributors reportedly lined up for nominations as ambassadors. Bush has since awarded diplomatic posts to 24 Pioneers and Rangers– supporters who have helped his 2000 and 2004 campaigns by bundling contributions of at least $100,000 or $200,000, respectively. (Five of them, like Bush, happen to have been baseball team owners. See “Bush’s Baseball Ambassadors”, July/August 2004)

A 1980 federal law requires that campaign contributions “should not be a factor” in naming ambassadors. It also specifies that nominees should be able to speak the local language. By this standard, the credentials of Bush’s donors-turned-diplomats are particularly sparse. For instance, consider that our man in France — a country we’ve had our share of diplomatic tussles with lately — doesn’t speak French. Now, more of George W. Bush’s world-class ambassadors. — Benjamin Leslie

Pioneer/Posting/ Dates

2000 Donations to Bush and GOP

Diplomatic Distinctions

John Price
Mauritius. 2002 – present.

$573,555

Skipped Mauritius’ presidential inauguration, prompting the country’s largest paper to call for his resignation. Also recently fined $8.1 million by Utah Supreme Court for cheating his business partners.

Richard J. Egan
Ireland. 2001 – 2002.

$489,600

Made a soft money contribution of $250,000 to the GOP in the summer of 2000, and was soon on his way to Dublin.

Howard Leach
France. 2001 – present.

$376,859

The billionaire former CEO of Lynch Capital didn’t speak any French when he was posted to Paris. He reportedly has been taking lessons, though.

Clifford Sobel
Netherlands. 2001 – present.

$295,700

Dutch-deficient Ambassador Sobel says he loves the Netherlands because “everybody speaks English.”

John Palmer Sr.
Portugal. 2001 – present.

$185,650

Big supporter of Bush 41. Speaks no Portuguese.

John Ong
Norway. 2001 – present.

$181,085

Fined $15,000 by the Federal Election Commission for illegal fundraising in 1997 and 1999. Doesn’t speak Norwegian.

Sue Cobb
Jamaica. 2001 – present.

$164,750

Married to Charles Cobb, who was appointed ambassador to Iceland after donating over $100,000 to George Bush Sr.

W.L. Brown Jr.
Austria. 2001 – present.

$133,700

The former CEO of Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort, does speak German. Prost!

Nancy Brinker
Hungary. 2001 – 2003.

$125,990

Prior to posting, this Dallas socialite had no Eastern European experience.

Ronald Weiser
Slovak Republic. 2001 – present.

$40,250

Was the 2000 Bush campaign’s Michigan finance chair. Doesn’t speak Slovakian.

Martin Silverstein
Uruguay. 2001 – present.

$38,325

Buddies with homeland security chief Tom Ridge. Self-described as “professionally competent” in Spanish.

Tony Gioia
Malta. 2001 – present.

$37,411

AKA “The Pasta Magnate.” Fortunately, Malta is English-speaking.

Russ F. Freeman
Belize. 2001 – present.

$3,750

This North Dakota lawyer’s brother was a major investor in Bush’s business dealings. Speaks Belize’s official language — English.

Robert Jordan
Saudi Arabia. 2001 – 2003.

$2,650

Represented Bush during SEC inquiries into possible insider trading in 1990. Also a law partner of Bush family consigliere and House of Saud pal James Baker.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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