CAMPAIGN ’88 : Lobby Letter Criticized

Bush on Friday criticized a letter signed by his former finance chairman that sought lobbying business with the government of Haiti, citing the official’s close contact with the presidential nominee.

“I denounce it,” Bush told the Associated Press in an interview aboard Air Force Two. “I don’t like it. I think it’s wrong.”

The letter, made public this week, was signed by Frederick M. Bush, no relation to the vice president, the longtime finance director of the Bush campaign and now in charge of the Republican National Committee’s Victory ’88 fund-raising effort.

Frederick Bush has denied authorship of the letter and called it a “rotten, rotten thing to happen.” He said the letter was sent without his knowledge by his partner, Michael Govan.

The vice president, who has repeatedly said during the campaign that he would enforce a strict ethical standard if elected, insisted that the letter would not reflect poorly on him.

“They (the voters) know I’ve been in public life for 20 years and no one has ever made any allegations about improprieties on my part because they know how strongly I feel on ethics in government,” the vice president said.