arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

9/28/2001
Press Office
202-646-5172

WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUSH SR. IN BUSINESS WITH BIN
LADEN FAMILY CONGLOMERATE THROUGH CARLYLE GROUP

FAMILY HAD RENOUNCED TIES TO TERRORIST SON BUT FAMILY
STILL UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION

FATHER OF PRESIDENT SHOULD PULL OUT OF INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING FIRM

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes
government corruption and abuse, reacted with disbelief to The Wall Street Journal report of yesterday
that George H.W. Bush, the father of President Bush, works for the bin Laden family business in Saudi
Arabia through the Carlyle Group, an international consulting firm. The senior Bush had met with the bin
Laden family at least twice. (Other top Republicans are also associated with the Carlyle group, such as
former Secretary of State James A. Baker.) The terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had supposedly been
"disowned" by his family, which runs a multi-billion dollar business in Saudi Arabia and is a major investor
in the senior Bush's firm. Other reports have questioned, though, whether members of his Saudi family
have truly cut off Osama bin Laden. Indeed, the Journal also reported yesterday that the FBI has
subpoenaed the bin Laden family business's bank records.

Judicial Watch earlier this year had strongly criticized President Bush's father's association with the
Carlyle Group, pointing out in a March 5 statement that it was a "conflict of interest (which) could cause
problems for America's foreign policy in Middle East and Asia." Judicial Watch called for the senior Bush
to resign from the firm then.

"This conflict of interest has now turned into a scandal. The idea of the President's father, an ex-president
himself, doing business with a company under investigation by the FBI in the terror attacks of September
11 is horrible. President Bush should not ask, but demand, that his father pull out of the Carlyle Group,"
stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

"This has the potential of making ‘Billygate' (Jimmy Carter's brother's dealings with Libya) look like small
potatoes," added Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

See "Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump In Defense Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank," by
Daniel Golden, James Bandler, and Marcus Walker, The Wall Street Journal, 9/28/01 (http://www.wsj.com,
subscription required).