W Bush was charged $100k

Former commander-in-chief George W. Bush charged $100,000 in 2012 to speak at a charity fundraiser for vets wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News reported Wednesday.

The former President’s wife, Laura, took $50,000 a year earlier to speak to the same group, Texas-based Helping A Hero, the network reported.

Former Marine Eddie Wright, who served on the charity’s board and lost both hands in a 2004 rocket attack in Iraq, told ABC he didn’t think it was right for Bush to have been paid to raise money for vets through the group, which provides adapted homes to servicemembers who became disabled in combat.



“You sent me to war,” Wright said of Bush, according to ABC.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
George W. Bush charged $100,000 in 2012 to speak at a Helping A Hero fundraiser for vets wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News reported.
EDDIE WRIGHT VIA FACEBOOK
Wright served on the charity’s board and lost both hands in a 2004 rocket attack in Iraq.
“I was doing what you told me to do, gladly for you and our country and I have no regrets. But it’s kind of a slap in the face.”

Bush reportedly also got a private jet trip to Houston for the speaking gig at a cost of $20,000.

In a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, Wright expanded on his television comments.

“I like President Bush. He's a man just like anyone else. The decision to take money from a non profit (any non profit) that raises money to assist Veterans who are wounded in a war that he was Commander in Chief of was a bad judgement call,” the Texas veteran wrote.

“I know a little bit about leadership. That's not the type of leader I aspired to be in the Corps and still do. I would never take money from my Marines.”

Wright said he hoped the story would bring to light larger issues about “non profit organizations that exploit and monetize disabled Veterans under the guise of caring.”

As for Bush, “What's said is said. I am honored to have served with him as my Commander in Chief,” Wright posted.

ABC said a Bush spokesman declined to address criticism of the speaking fee, saying in a statement, “President Bush has made helping veterans one of his highest priorities in his post presidency.”

ABC NEWS
"I would never take money from my Marines," Wright wrote on Facebook.
Presidential speaking fees have been a hot topic thanks to the Clintons, who have had to disclose information about their income and are under pressure to reveal more as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the 2016 Democratic nomination heats up.