While serving as Governor of Texas, George W. Bush was guilty of fostering corruption in order to salvage his political career. Because his administration cultivated a climate of criminal activity, GTech scored a contract worth hundreds of millions, and former Texas Speaker of the House Ben Barnes and his associate walked away with a $23.1 million payoff.
After reading
Greg Palast's article detailing
a letter sent to the US Justice Department about a deal between George W. Bush, Ben Barnes, and GTech, it caused me to do some of my own research. The letter was sent anonymously and includes some mistakes, but I have no doubt that its author is a reliable source because the Justice Department received the letter before 1997. As my research reveals, Barnes didn't receive his payoff until 1997, and I can personally attest to the fact that most details about this story weren't reported until 1999. Whoever sent this letter not only had prior knowledge to events that were about to happen, but also fingered then Governor Bush himself for helping to setup a deal between GTech and Ben Barnes.
As early as 1996, GTech knew they were in danger of losing their lottery services contract in Texas, worth $150 million a year. [Houston Chronicle, 2/20/98] In November of that year, a conflict with GTech arose when the Texas Lottery Commission started questioning the corporations's "high-dollar consulting contracts." [Austin American-Statesman, 2/27/98] Then in December, it was revealed that GTech hired Mike Moeller as a consultant. Moeller just happened to be a longtime friend and future husband to then-Texas Lottery Director Nora Linares. [ibid]
These actions highlight the mindset of a corporation that has a history of committing shady actions in order to wield political influence. In 1994, J. David Smith, GTech's former national sales manager, had to resign amid charges that he received kickbacks from high priced GTech consultants and paid off officials in states where the corporation was trying to land contracts. The federal case against Smith failed, but he was found guilty in a case in New Jersey. [Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 1/20/98] He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. [New York Times, 10/9/98]
Knowing GTech's mindset helps to explain why they signed Ben Barnes to a multi-million dollar contract to be their chief lobbyist in Texas. Not only was Barnes Texas' former Lt. Governor and able to wield some political influence, but while serving as Texas Speaker of the House, Barnes was directly responsible for placing George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard so he could avoid fighting in Vietnam. He wouldn't admit to this until 1999, when he had to under oath. [Houston Chronicle, 9/28/99] Before then, this was only a rumor that Barnes refused to confirm. If he did confirm it at the time, it could have ended Bush's budding political career.
But where Barnes really earned his millions from GTech is when they bought out his contract for $23.1 million in February, 1997. [Washington Post, 9/21/99] (The contract was also with Barnes' associate Ricky Knox.) It was reported that GTech bought out the contract because of "damaging publicity stemming from the criminal prosecution in New Jersey of a top Gtech executive," but Lawrence Littwin has a different idea on why Barnes received millions from GTech.
Littwin is the former director of the Texas Lottery Commission who led a charge to get the contract rebid and out of GTech's hands. He was fired in October, 1997, after 4 months on the job. In turn, Littwin sued GTech, claiming that his firing was a "result of political influence" by GTech. Barnes $23 million pay off was cited in this lawsuit, and it led to him being subpoenaed because "Gtech's political clout was bolstered by Barnes' political clout." [AP, 9/22/99] This lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, where GTech gave Littwin $300,000 as long as Littwin "admits that he has no personal knowledge of any of the criminal activity alleged in support of his claims against Gtech," and, "give to Gtech or destroy all documents produced by the litigation, including transcripts of Barnes' deposition." [Austin American-Statesman, 10/30/99]
While many lawsuits are settled by corporations simply to save on the costs of legal fees, there's reason to believe that GTech settled this lawsuit because they were guilty of everything that Littwin accused them of. Why would GTech settle if Littwin didn't have evidence to back up his claims? To put Littwin's case in a different light, let me use an example: This blogger once had a job interview at GTech and wasn't hired by the company. If I tried suing them for discrimination, do you think I would get a $300,000 settlement? No, of course not, because I don't have any proof to back up my accusations.
This is where the anonymous letter sent to the US Justice Department before 1997 comes into play, because whoever wrote this letter already had evidence that Bush, Barnes, and GTech made a deal before the pay off actually happened. From the letter: "Governor Bush thru Reggie Bashur made a deal with Ben Barnes not to rebid because Barnes could confirm that Bush had lied during the 94 campaign ... Bashur was sent to talk to Barnes who agreed never to confirm the story and the Governor talked to the Chair of the Lottery two days later and she then agreed to support letting Gtech keep the contract without a bid."
You may be asking who this Reggie Bashur person is. Well, Bashur was a former aide to Governor Bush who left his staff to become a lobbyist for GTech. [Austin American-Statesman, 10/30/99] It would be pure speculation to assume that Bush knowingly sent a representative from GTech to be his point man in making a deal with Barnes, but it's rather curious that Bashur met with Barnes before 1997, Barnes ends up with $23 million from GTech in 1997, and Bashur later becomes a corporate lobbyist for GTech. All of these events happening doesn't sound like a mere coincidence.
In the end, all parties received exactly what they wanted. Barnes didn't reveal that Bush lied about how he got into the Texas Air National Guard (until he was forced to under oath), GTech didn't lose the Texas State Lottery contract worth $150 million a year, and Barnes got millions of dollars. Somebody had evidence of a deal between all three parties before 1997, before they all received what they wanted. There's no question that Bush knew what was happening, but he fostered a culture of corruption all for his own personal gain.