The issue of funding for presidential libraries has been thrust front and center following the controversy surrounding Stephen Payne.  Melanie Sloan explained to the Houston Chronicle the need for transparency in this process:

The case of Houston businessman Stephen Payne — who solicited a donation to Bush's presidential library from a client seeking access to White House officials — underscores the weakness of a system that allows anonymous donations from Americans and foreigners alike, according to a leading watchdog group.

"We need transparency in library contributions for the same reason we have it in campaign contributions: so the public can see if there is a relationship between contributions and government action," said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

CREW has asked the Justice Department to investigate Payne, who was caught on tape suggesting that the family of a deposed president of a Central Asian country seeking to rehabilitate his reputation contribute to the Bush library.

Yesterday, CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Secret Service for records of all visits Stephen Payne made to the White House and residence of the vice president, following on the heels of a revelation by The London Times that Mr. Payne, a lobbyist and top Bush fundraiser, has attempted to sell access to top administration officials in exchange for contributions to the Bush library.  We know a thing or two about obtaining visitor records from the Bush administration.  CREW recently won a court victory in our lawsuit to obtain White House visitor records .

Interesting that Dana Perino already cited the ongoing litigation as a reason to deny access to Payne's visitor records.  That just doesn't make sense:

Via The Houston Chronicle, we learn that House Government Reform Chair Henry Waxman wil investigate the report that Bush pioneer Stephen Payne offered meetings with top Bush administration officials in exchange for contributions to the Bush Library:

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, informed Payne late Monday that his panel would look into the report.

"If true, this raises serious concerns about the ways in which foreign interests might be secretly influencing large donations to the library," Waxman wrote in the letter to Payne.

Melanie Sloan provided some perspective to the Chronicle:

Even so, as as result of The Sunday Times report, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog group, fired off a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking him to look into whether Payne violated federal laws that bar soliciting contributions in return for influencing government officials.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said that "it is not permissible to sell meetings with Bush administration officials."

Sloan also said that it is unlikely that Payne would have made the pitch without approval from others close to or within the administration.

"He wouldn't get paid that way if he couldn't deliver," she said.

Today, CREW sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for an investigation into whether lobbyist Stephen Payne violated any criminal laws by offering to arrange meetings with top administration officials in return for a contribution to the Bush library and a substantial commission for serving as a go-between, and whether any administration officials broke the law by participating in a scheme to sell meetings for contributions.  The letter to DOJ can be found here.

The Times of London has reported that a Times investigator asked Mr. Payne to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president. Mr. Payne can be seen on videotape saying that such meetings can be arranged for “somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library.” The balance would go to Mr. Payne’s lobbying firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners. When asked which officials might be available to meet for that price, Mr. Payne replied, “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 . . .”

Mr. Payne is a top Bush donor who raised more than $100,000 for the 2000 presidential election and another $200,000 for the president’s 2004 re-election campaign. He is also a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council and has accompanied President Bush and Vice President Cheney on foreign trips.

Federal law prohibits public officials from directly or indirectly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act. If Mr. Payne was authorized by any member of the Bush administration to trade meetings with top level officials in return for financial contributions to the Bush library, those officials may have violated the bribery statute. Similarly, by offering to serve as a conduit to deliver contributions to the Bush library in exchange for meetings with administration officials, Mr. Payne may have violated federal law.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today:

It is clear from this week’s reporting that Mr. Payne is attempting to capitalize on his relationship with the President of the United States in a way that suggests United States foreign policy may be for sale to the highest bidder. Although the White House has denied any connection between official administration action and contributions to the library, considering Mr. Payne’s close ties to the White House, this simply is not credible. The Justice Department should immediately investigate if this administration is complicit in this or other contribution-for-meeting schemes with Mr. Payne.