Kay Bailey Hutchinson Dragged Into Bribery Scandal

Our friend Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has been implicated n the growing ethics scandal involving Steven Payne, the lobbyist and Bush appointee who was caught on tape selling influence for six figure donations to the Bush Library.

The Austin-American Statesman details an incodent where Sen. Hutchison may have passed off an op-ed piece as hers when in actuality it was written by Payne who was acting as a lobbyist for Azerbaijan interests.

What also remains murky is Payne’s role in a 2005 opinion piece that Hutchison authored for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was headlined “Azerbaijan: Opportunity for America,” and in it Hutchison writes that the country “holds great promise” as an oil source in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Payne brags in materials for his business that he “developed” a series of op-eds promoting the country, including one by Hutchison.

Hutchison’s current staff contends that it does not know the precise origins of the column she wrote promoting Azerbaijan, although her spokesman says she was heavily involved. Chris Paulitz, her communications director at the time, declined to comment today on Payne’s role in writing the piece.