Mr. Stephen P. Payne

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  www.theledger.com/article/20090912/NEWS/909125005/-1/NE - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/12/2009    Last Visited: 9/12/2009  

  It was revealed that Stephen Payne, a lobbyist who has allegedly been videotaped by The Times of London offering meetings with senior Bush administration officials in exchange for contributions to Bush's presidential library, visited the White House 53 times.

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  www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/ringling-rico/281/ - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/7/2007    Last Visited: 3/30/2009  

  "This lawsuit is a direct result of the animal rights extremists' agenda to deny families in the United States entertainment choices like the circus and their ongoing conspiracy to harm Feld Entertainment," company spokesman Stephen Payne said in a statement.

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  www.wtkr.com/news/nationworld/sns-dc-whitehouse-visitor - [Cached Version]
  Last Visited: 9/4/2009  

  The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, sought records reflecting the visits of Christian conservative leaders and lobbyist Stephen Payne to the Bush White House, which argued that the documents should be protected as presidential records, even though they were created by the Secret Service.

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  librarian.lishost.org/?p=1127 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/14/2008    Last Visited: 8/31/2008  

  Stephen Payne Access Costs $250K Donation to Bush Library. No. 7.14.2008. 120.Librarian » Blog Archive » Access Costs $250K Donation to Bush Library.
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  "The exact budget I will come up with, but it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library," said Payne, who sits on the US homeland security advisory council.
  
  A lobbyist with close ties to the White House is offering access to key figures in George W Bush's administration in return for six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush's presidency.Stephen Payne, who claims to have raised more than $1m for the president's Republican party in recent years, said he would arrange meetings with Dick Cheney, the vice-president, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and other senior officials in return for a payment of $250,000 (£126,000) towards the library in Texas. As glasses clink watch the undercover investigation by The Sunday Times.Payne was asked to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president.He outlined the cost of facilitating such access.

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  www.buzzflash.com/articles/archive/2008/07/22 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2008    Last Visited: 8/19/2008  

  The recent Sunday Times investigation into Republican lobbyist Stephen Payne's business deals has offered disturbing insight that goes far beyond the funding of the George W. Bush presidential library.
  
  Payne made news last week for essentially offering access to upper-level Bush Administration officials in exchange for a large donation to Bush's presidential library fund and a larger fee for his international consulting firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners (WSP).
  
  A Times reporter went undercover posing as an associate of a Kazakh politician known as Eric Dos who previously worked with Payne.

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  www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/sep/18/letters-editor-sept - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/19/2008    Last Visited: 9/19/2008  

  John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser is a close business associate of Stephen Payne, the lobbyist caught on tape offering access to top administration officials in exchange for donations to the Bush Library.
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  Payne is the president and CEO of WSE.
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  John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser is a close business associate of Stephen Payne, who's wife has the same hairdresser as the woman who sold a car to the lobbyist caught on tape offering access to top administration officials in exchange for donations to the Bush Library.

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  ec2-67-202-52-64.compute-1.amazonaws.com/muckraker/step - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/21/2008    Last Visited: 10/11/2008  

  Stephen PayneTPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Stephen Payne
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  Both have ties to Stephen Payne, the former White House official who reportedly promised access to Bush administration higher-ups in exchange for contributions to Bush's Presidential Libary.
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  And a document put out by one of Payne's firms listed Guliani's law firm, Bracewell-Giuliani, as "outside strategic and legal counsel."
  
  With all the signs suggesting that Giuliani will play a major role in vouching for McCain's terrorist-fighting bona-fides this fall, the link to Scheunemann and Payne serves as a reminder -- as if any were needed -- that America's Mayor hasn't always been too careful about the company he keeps.
  
  print share PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND THIS RECOMMEND THIS (0) TOPICS: Randy Scheunemann, Rudy Giuliani, Stephen Payne
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  In this week's Sunday paper, the Times of London doled out another interesting detail from their secretly recorded conversation with former Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Payne.
  
  This week's story was not as explosive as the one two weeks ago, when the Houston energy consultant offered to arrange meetings with White House officials in exchange for big donations to the future George W. Bush presidential library fund.
  
  The latest story said Payne talked about obtaining travel documents from the United Nations in exchange for money.That's a remarkable offer from a guy who sat on the Secure Borders and Open Doors Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. (Until he was told to resign a couple weeks ago).
  
  On video, Payne was in a London hotel restaurant talking to a Kazakh politician known as Eric Dos.
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  Dos made a reference to a previous business deal with Payne when Payne allegedly obtained a United Nations "passport" for a Kazakh billionaire who used to head the state oil and gas company, KazMunaiGas, or KMG.
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  Dos introduced the subject of Payne having helped Kulibayev obtain a UN "passport".
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  Payne appeared to confirm his involvement, saying "Yeah yeah yeah, yeah."Asked if this was possible Payne answered: "It can be done.It's a question of money, always.Everything is."A source close to Payne said: "He didn't do this, but he knows who did.
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  TOPICS: Stephen Payne
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  We told you last week that Stephen Payne was among them.
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  Scheunemann was head of the two-man lobbying shop called Orion Strategies back in 2002 when they signed on to lobby for International Business & Energy Development Corp., a firm run by Payne.
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  Scheunemann stopped working for Payne on Pakistan-related issues in 2003, according to Senate lobbing disclosure reports.
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  TOPICS: John McCain, Randy Scheunemann, Stephen Payne
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  Sen. John McCain's campaign has admitted that his top foreign policy adviser has lobbied for not two but three different firms run by cash-for-access deal-maker Stephen Payne.
  
  But the McCain camp insists that Randy Scheunemann did not lobby McCain himself on "any issues relating to" Stephen Payne.
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  That might come as a relief to McCain supporters, since Payne was caught on video a few weeks ago telling a Kazakh politician he could set up high-level meetings at the White House in exchange for big donations to the future George W. Bush Presidential Library fund.
  
  But is it true?
  
  Let's go back to 2001.That's when Scheunemann and Payne first met, according to the McCain camp.
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  And what was Stephen Payne doing in Latvia?
  
  According to his own firms' documents, a lot.One brochure said Payne's firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners, "led Lavia's efforts to become a NATO member."Another for his related firm, Worldwide Strategic Energy, said the same thing.
  
  Payne has been Latvia's "honorary consul" in Texas, which is among the many business activities he conducts from the same office address in suburban Houston.
  
  It looks like Payne and Scheunemann were on the same side of the issue, trying to convince people like McCain and other U.S. lawmakers to back Latvia's bid for NATO membership.
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  Payne doesn't always register his work for foreign countries in the Department of Justice database maintained under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
  
  The McCain camp told us that Sheunemann and Payne met in Latvia in 2001.
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  TOPICS: John McCain, Stephen Payne
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  McCain Adviser Found To Have Lobbied For Third Group Tied To Stephen Payne
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  More evidence of ties between John McCain's top foreign policy adviser and Stephen Payne, the guy caught on video offering to arrange meetings with top White House officials in exchange for big donations to the future George W. Bush Presidential Library Fund.
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  We knew that Randy Scheunemann had worked for two of Payne's firms in recent years.
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  International Business & Energy Development Corp., is the third of Payne's firms to emerge as paying money to Scheunemann.
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  The McCain campaign said Scheunemann has had no business relationship with Payne since July 2006 and has no knowledge of Payne's business activities since that time.
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  TOPICS: Stephen Payne
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  We've been writing a lot about Payne since he was caught on video offering to arrange meetings with high-level Bush administration officials conditioned on big donations to the future George W. Bush Presidential Library fund.
  
  This 44-page document, which was previously obtained by the Times of London and the blog Majikthise, was distributed to investors about two years ago and outlines the people involved with Worldwide Strategic Energy and how they planned to make money.
  
  Payne is listed as the president and chief executive officer and touts some connections to the Bush administration that we hadn't heard before. Spending hundreds of days on the road for the Bush/Cheney Campaign in 2000 and 2004, Mr. Payne was part of a small team of five Bush operatives, including former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, who coordinated the campaigns' efforts for the three Presidential debates held that year.
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  The document includes a photo, above, showing Payne in traditional Kazakh garb alongside Timur Kulibayev, a billionaire and chairman of the board for KazMunaiGaz, the Kazakh oil and gas company (Kulibayev is also the Kazakh president's son-in-law), and Togrul Baglrov, executive vice president with the Moscow International Petroleum Club.
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  TOPICS: Stephen Payne
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  John McCain's campaign responds to the AP regarding McCain aide Randy Scheunemann's previous work with Stephen Payne, the guy caught on video offering to set up meetings with White House officials in exchange for big donations to the George W. Bush Presidential Library fund.
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  In regard to Caspian Alliance, Scheunemann arranged several informational meetings for Payne with Department of State and NSC officials following Caspian energy issues, but Scheunemann did not lobby on specific legislation or projects, said Rogers.
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  Scheunemann did not lobby McCain on Caspian energy issues or any other issue related to Payne, the McCain campaign spokesman added.
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  TOPICS: John McCain, Stephen Payne
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  Before last week, we'd never heard of Worldwide Strategic Partners and Stephen Payne, the (former) Homeland Security adviser who was caught on video soliciting big donations for the future George W. Bush Presidential Library fund while offering to arrange access to top White House officials.
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  Ettinger has worked with Payne at Worldwide Strategic Partners along with other ventures and currently shares office space with Payne at the firm's Houston office.
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  One lobbying form for the Caspian Alliance lists several people working on its behalf, including including Ettinger, Payne's former business partner Gary Polland and Ari Storch with Artemis Strategies.
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  Payne is among the founders of Atremis Strategies, a lobbying firm which has had a partnership with the Caspian Alliance.Artemis Strategies was founded in 2003 by Payne, Ettinger and others including Timothy F. Powers, formerly deputy director of the Republican National Committee's congressional affairs and strategic planning operation and member of the Bush-Cheney transition team, according to a March 13, 2003 report in the Washington Post.
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  Payne was recently caught bragging about his close ties with Scheunemann, according to the Times of London.
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  On the tape, Payne said Scheunemann has been "working with me on my payroll for five of the last eight years," according to a report in the Times.

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  truckersandcitizensunited.theamericandriver.com/modules - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/13/2008    Last Visited: 9/21/2008  

  Click here for a brochure on Stephen Payne's company Worldwide Strategic Partners
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  During an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times, Payne was asked to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president.He outlined the cost of facilitating such access.
  
  "The exact budget I will come up with, but it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library," said Payne, who sits on the US homeland security advisory council.
  
  He said initially that the "family" of the Asian politician should make the donation.He later added that if all the money was paid to him he would make the payment to the Bush library.Publicly, it would appear to have been made in the politician's name "unless he wants to be anonymous for some reason".
  
  Payne said the balance of the $750,000 would go to his own lobbying company, Worldwide Strategic Partners (WSP).
  
  Asked by an undercover reporter who the politician would be able to meet for that price, Payne said: "Cheney's possible, definitely the national security adviser [Stephen Hadley], definitely either Dr Rice or . . . I think a meeting with Dr Rice or the deputy secretary [John Negroponte] is possible . . .
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  When confronted, Payne said that there would be "no quid pro quo" for any donation and added that his firm was "always above board".

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  www.metimes.com/Security/2008/07/14/analysis_bush_libra - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/14/2008    Last Visited: 7/15/2008  

  Stephen Payne, a major GOP fundraiser and international affairs lobbyist, also touted his success in getting an Uzbek opposition leader removed from the U.S. terrorist watch list and issued a U.S. visa.
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  Payne was appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council's subcommittee on "secure borders and open doors" by Secretary Michael Chertoff in August last year.
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  "The exact budget I will come up with," Payne said, "but it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library."
  
  Payne, who believed he was meeting with a representative of former Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev, ousted in a people power-type revolution three years ago, called the money "not a huge amount but enough to show that they're serious."
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  White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters "There's categorically no link between any official business and the Bush library," stressing that Payne "was never an employee of the White House."
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  In a statement, Payne, who has served as a volunteer advance travel planner for White House trips abroad and accompanied Cheney to the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, called the report a "worst-case example of 'gotcha' journalism."
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  Payne released a series of e-mail exchanges that followed the meeting, which, he said, "in contrast to the surreptitiously taped conversation … reflect the basis of the more formal discussion and reflect the inquiries made by Mr. Dos to establish a quid pro quo and my consistent responses that there could be no quid pro quo."
  
  "Anyone that tells you, 'I can deliver a U.S. government action in exchange for specific funds' is someone you will soon visit in prison," he told Dos in one of the e-mails."That would be bribery in this country."
  
  "The Sunday Times of London has done an injustice in undertaking a false and malicious expedition to discredit my company and me," Payne concluded in his statement.
  
  In promotional materials marked "confidential" that he later said were in draft form, Payne touted his work with an Uzbek opposition leader in a section titled "From alleged terrorist to U.S. ally -- The transformation of Muhammad Salih."
  
  Salih, an author and opposition leader who stood unsuccessfully against Uzbek strongman Islom Karimov in the country's first presidential election in 1990, and afterwards was first jailed, then placed under house arrest, has lived in exile since 1992.
  
  In 1999, he was tried and convicted in absentia by an Uzbek court of involvement in a series of terrorist bombings in the capital, Tashkent.Although some international observers questioned the trial's fairness, Salih was placed on the U.S. terrorism watch list and an Interpol warrant was issued for his arrest.
  
  According to Payne's promotional materials, his company, Houston-based Worldwide Strategic Partners Inc., "worked with the White House and the Departments of State and Justice to facilitate the removal ... from the terrorist watch list and the waving of the Interpol warrant" for Salih, and helped secure him a visa to visit the United States.
  
  According to the non-profit Texans for Public Justice, Payne was a Bush-Cheney campaign "Pioneer'' -- supporters who helped raise at least $100,000 -- during the 2000 election, and a "Ranger" -- bringing in $200,000 or more -- during the 2004 campaign.
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  Matt Angle, of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic political research and analysis group, called Payne "a junior league Jack Abramoff," a reference to the disgraced GOP lobbyist, jailed for corruption.
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  "He has built up influence as a major fundraiser for the president," said Angle of Payne.

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  advertising.industrysearch.com/cgi-bin/portal2/main.plx - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/11/2007    Last Visited: 11/11/2007  

  Stephen P. Payne
  
  President of Worldwide Strategic Partners, Inc., President of WSE Governmental Affairs
  
  Payne is an accomplished governmental and international affairs consultant with vast experience as a corporate and political advisor and foreign diplomat.His extensive clientele roster ranges from large international corporations, including Morgan-Stanley, Nextel Communications, Yukos Oil, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to serving NASA as a Senior Advisor and guiding diplomatic negotiations for foreign heads of state in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.Mr. Payne has established strong diplomatic relationships with top officials in the U.S. and internationally, with particular emphasis on relations with and projects in Pakistan, U.A.E., Iraq, Libya, Turkey, Azerbaijan, India, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Russia and China, as well as leading energy security talks for the NATO Summit.
  
  He began his career in government and politics in the late 1980s in the Texas State Senate.During the 1988 Bush for President Campaign, Payne served as George W. Bush's travel aide, (son of the Vice President).
  
  In 1993, Mr. Payne subsequently worked on the special election campaign for then State Treasurer Kay Hutchison.
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  In addition, Payne is currently the Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Latvia, and is part of Latvia's Diplomatic Corps in the United States.He serves as Latvia's official diplomatic liaison to the South Central region of the United States, working closely with the leadership and is one of the chief US advisors to President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
  
  Payne is also a Senior Presidential Advance Representative and travels regularly with President Bush.Mr. Payne accompanied President Bush to Jordan for the Red Sea Summit in June 2003 and to Europe in 2001.In 2002, he traveled with Vice President Cheney to the Middle East and Afghanistan for the historic inauguration of Afghan President Karzai.
  
  Payne is a Board Member of the National Defense University Foundation.He is also a Republican National Finance Committee Member and is also Head of the Foreign Policy Committee for Presidential Campaign of Rudy Guiliani.
  
  In July 2007, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff appointed Mr. Payne to the Homeland Security Advisory Council Board.

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