Kazakh Politician Claims Luring Cheney to Central Asia In 2006 Cost $2 MillionIf a meeting with the vice president in Washington might cost about $600,000, getting the vice president to actually go visit a far-flung central Asian country might run you up to $2 million.
That’s the suggestion buried in the string of emails we received today from Homeland Security adviser Stephen Payne.
Payne was caught on tape by the Times of London offering to set up meetings with high-level Bush administration officials in exchange for large payments to the future Bush library fund. In that video and the emails we obtained, Payne was talking with a Kazakh politician known as Eric Dos, whose real name is Yerzhan Dosmukhamedov.
In the emails and the video, Dos claims that back in 2006, the Kazakh government paid Payne’s firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners, $2 million with the understanding that he would secure a visit from the vice president.
Cheney visited the country’s capital in May 2006 and had dinner with the president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. The visit was part of a broader effort to cozy up to central Asian countries and keep them independent from Moscow. They are also considering a pipeline that would allow European markets to access central Asian oil and natural gas.
While there, Cheney heartily endorsed the government, despite a spotty human rights record and questions about the legitimacy of the 2005 elections there.
Dos makes reference to the payment and the trip while talking about the logistics of transferring money.
[Note: The emails quoted here were lifted directly from the document provided by Payne and contain a lot of spelling errors.]
I am also telling them that transfer can do well. It did work when you successfully brought VP Cheaney to Kazakhstan in 2006. Corect me if I said wrong, last time the Kazakh govt through KMG or whatever entity transferred directly to Worldwide Strategic and then some of it was transferred to Bush’s people? Was it to the Bush Sr library or foundation? or what? or did your company just pass it on to Cheaney’s people?
It’s not clear what KMG is referring to here, although there is a large oil and gas firm in Kazakistan called Kazmunaigas, which goes by the acronym KMG
A brochure from Payne’s firm says Payne accompanied Cheney on the vice president’s 2006 trip to Kazakhstan. A spokesman for Vice President Cheney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
In the email Payne provided us, Payne was emphatic that he had no idea what Dos was talking about.
Let me be clear on these issues you just raised — “Cheney’s people” were not paid anything as a result of his visit to KZ — he came to KZ because he wanted to — no other reason…I personally, as you know, have given and raised over a million for the Republican party over the past several years — but these donations are never tied to any specific request or Govt. action.
Payne apparently wanted to talk directly and ended his email with: “we need to visit by phone asap — what number should I call you on?”
