Hart Photo Said to Cost $25,000
A photo showing model Donna Rice sitting on the lap of former presidential candidate Gary Hart was sold to the National Enquirer by a friend of Rice for $25,000, a published report said Sunday.
The New York Times, quoting unidentified sources, said the Enquirer obtained the rights to publish the photo in its June 2 edition after extensive negotiations with Lynn Armandt, a friend of Rice.
The photo, published alongside the headline “Gary Hart Asked Me to Marry Him,” shows the two sitting on a dock during a trip that Hart, Rice, Armandt and another Hart associate took to Bimini. Rice is sitting on Hart’s lap in the photo and the two are holding hands.
Reports of their association and of the night Rice allegedly spent in a Washington town house with Hart caused him to withdraw from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination last month. Hart has denied having a sexual relationship with the Miami model, maintaining that they were just friends.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
