- WASHINGTON (AFP) - Writer
Kitty Kelley has accused the White House of putting pressure on her and
the US media over the new biography on the family of President George W.
Bush (news - web sites)
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- "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty",
which alleges that Bush took cocaine at Camp David when his father was
president, became an instant best-seller after its publication this week.
But it has been strongly condemned by the presidency.
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- "I have had the pressure of the White House,"
Kelley, a veteran of biographical polemics, told a conference in Washington
late Thursday linked to the release of her book.
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- "It was published on Tuesday, it was under embargo
until that time, so there were no copies available. Days before publication,
the White House issued a formal statement saying that the book was garbage
and nobody should read it," Kelley declared.
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- Kelley also said the White House had called the president
of NBC News to urge the network not to invite her to talk about the new
book.
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- "Larry King did not extend an invitation. I have
done his show for every book that I have ever written," she said of
the star CNN talk show host.
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- The 733-page tome is heavy with Kelley's trademark mix
of scandal and sexual innuendo, and paints a deeply unflattering portrait
of the Bush dynasty that has been condemned by the White House as a politically
motivated smear job ahead of the November 2 presidential election.
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- Kelley said she interviewed 988 people for the book.
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- "If it's in the book, it's corroborated," she
said. "There is a lot I left out the book."
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- Among those quoted are Sharon Bush -- an ex-wife of one
of the president's brothers, Neil Bush -- who was said to have confirmed
the cocaine incident. Sharon Bush has since denied this however.
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- "I met Sharon Bush at a little restaurant. It was
a four-hour lunch and Sharon Bush talked about everything," Kelley
said.
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- "She talked about her father-in-law's infidelity,
she talked about the mistresses of George H. W. Bush, she talked about
her tormented relationship with the Bush family.
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- "I said: 'Sharon, have you ever heard about George
W. doing drugs at Camp David when his father was president? And she said:
'Yes, many times'.
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- Kelley said Sharon Bush's publicist has "corroborated
everything".
-
- "But I am not really surprised that she is backing
off because this is a very powerful family. Sharon said over that lunch
that she was afraid of the Bushes."
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- Kelley went on: "I really do think they are the
most powerful in America, the most powerful family in the world."
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- She denied she had a political agenda explaining that
the book was started in 2000. "I personally come from a large Republican
family. My father voted for both Bushes."
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