Bush Campaign Aide Confirms Link to BCCI, Denies Conflict

A newly appointed deputy manager of President Bush’s reelection campaign confirmed Thursday that his firm is handling public relations for owners of the scandal-plagued Bank of Credit & Commerce International, but he denied that the work constitutes a conflict of interest.

The campaign official, James Lake, verified a report by a private advocacy group that he and his firm were paid more than $200,000 last year for advising BCCI’s majority owners on their dealings with the press, and he said he plans to continue to represent them.

Bush campaign spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said Lake’s work for BCCI had been cleared by White House counsel C. Boyden Gray based on “a full financial disclosure statement.” She said that “the whole premise” of questioning his ties to the bank is irrelevant.

But a spokesman for the Center for Public Integrity, which called attention to Lake’s work for BCCI, said it is preposterous for a top Bush campaign aide to be working for the owners of an institution that is involved in seven federal grand jury probes.

BCCI, which was shut by international regulators in July, has been accused of laundering drug money, assisting arms traffickers and hiding its ownership in several U.S. banks. It recently forfeited $550 million in U.S. assets to settle criminal racketeering charges.

In an interview, Lake said he is representing the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which owns 77% of BCCI but was not directly involved in its management. The investment group, he said, is “probably the biggest victim in this affair.”

Lake, who is not being paid for his work for Bush, said he has not considered severing his relationship with the investment group and continues to feel certain that his ties will not be a problem for Bush’s campaign.

According to documents filed by Lake’s firm, Robinson, Lake, Lerer & Montgomery, with the foreign agents registration section of the Justice Department, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority paid the firm $201,375 for its services from September through November.

During those three months, Lake twice flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with his clients on strategy and developments in the BCCI matter, according to the filings and the interview with Lake.