The Secret Bush Tapes--Author Says It's All His Publisher's Fault

Posted on February 21, 2005

The New York Times dropped a bombshell yesterday with its story about former presidential friend, wiretapper extraordinaire and author Douglas Wead. Wead attempts to explain why he secretly taped his conversations with his friend, then Governor Bush. In the tapes, President Bush appears to admit to having smoked marijuana, discusses LSD, cocaine and other drugs, analyzes his political opponents (unflatteringly) and muses about how he told the Christian right that he wouldn't "kick gays." Needless to say, the White House isn't pleased with the revelations. But the most shocking part of the story is Wead's assertions that the few tapes he played for The New York Times are the tamest of the bunch. Apparently, the entire brouhaha is all Wead's publisher's fault. According to Wead, he wasn't going to release the tapes until after his death, but his publisher insisted on hearing the tapes which were the source for factual statements in his book, The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders (Atria) (probably those annoying guys from Legal insisted on vetting the book). Well, the cat's out of the bag now. So, what is on the rest of these tapes? Only time will tell...if we're lucky, that is. Wead is now waffling, saying that he really should give the rest of the secret tapes back to President Bush. But where's the fun in that?