Ms Kelley, for her part, said Ms Bush was intimidated into withdrawing
the claim.

"I feel sorry for Sharon Bush. We knew that next day that she was
going to be frightened over this," she told NBC?s Today programme.

"She was hysterical at the time and she said herself that Neil Bush
left a message on her tape machine saying that if she did not stop
what she was doing she would find herself in a dark alley."


http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3496409

Tue 14 Sep 2004

'George Bush Used Cocaine at Camp David'

By Mark Sage, PA News, in New York


A "tell all" book which claims President George Bush once took cocaine
at Camp David hit the shelves in the United States today, prompting
anger from Republicans.

Celebrity author Kitty Kelley has penned the 600-plus page book, which
makes a number of allegations about the Bush political dynasty.

The White House has attacked the biography, titled The Family: The
Real Story of the Bush Dynasty as "trash".

But with election season in full swing the book -- with an initial
print run of 700,000 copies -- has already caught the public
imagination.

It is already ranked number two on Amazon.com?s best-seller list.

Kelley, 62, is known for her previous best-selling exposes on
Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Nancy Reagan.

One of the sources she names for the Camp David allegations is Sharon
Bush, the former wife of President Bush?s brother, Neil.

Kelley claims that Ms Bush confirmed that the current president took
cocaine at Camp David when his father was in office.

The apparent confirmation came during a lunch in New York attended by
Ms Bush?s then-publicist Lou Colasuonno.

But Ms Bush has now branded that version of events a "falsehood",
saying she denied "categorically" making that claim.

Ms Kelley, for her part, said Ms Bush was intimidated into withdrawing
the claim.

"I feel sorry for Sharon Bush. We knew that next day that she was
going to be frightened over this," she told NBC?s Today programme.

"She was hysterical at the time and she said herself that Neil Bush
left a message on her tape machine saying that if she did not stop
what she was doing she would find herself in a dark alley."

Mr Colasuonno, a former editor of the New York Daily News, has said:
"What Kitty Kelley says in her book is accurate."

Among the other claims made in the book is that the first president
Bush had an extra-marital affair in the early 1960s.

Ms Kelley has been accused in the past of smearing her subjects, most
notoriously when she implied that former First Lady Nancy Reagan had
an affair with Sinatra.

Her latest book is being published by Doubleday, a division of Random
House.

Ms Kelley said on the NBC Today show: "This book has been vetted by
four sets of lawyers, including the chief counsel at Random House."

She added: "My standards are my standards. I write books the same way
every good reporter writes good books."

Doubleday has said: "Everything she attributes to Sharon Bush in her
book is an accurate account of their discussions."

The author she denied that she was trying to change the minds of
voters ahead of the November 2 presidential election.

"This is not a partisan book," she said.

"Is it going to change the election? No."

She said she had voted for both Democrats and Republicans and donated
to both parties in the past.

_____________________________________________________

Harry

Neil Bush told Sharon if she didn't stop, she'd find herself in a dark alley