You can't make this stuff up.
Pat Robertson allegedly lobbied on behalf of Liberia's Charles Taylor in exchange for a gold mining contract. Taylor is currently standing trial for human rights violations.
Robertson made widely publicized public statements in support of Charles Taylor in 2003. However, Chris Roslan, a spokesman for Robertson, denied to ABC News that Robertson ever discussed Taylor with Bush.
But on the stand, Taylor answered, "That is correct," when asked if he had previously indicated that Robertson had met with Bush, and when asked if Robertson had volunteered to speak with high administration officials on his behalf.
Taylor is being tried in the Netherlands by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an independent judicial body under the auspices of the United Nations that receives a third of its funding from the U.S.
The gold deal went through in June 1999, with Robertson allegedly pumping $15 million dollars into the project.
Hollis asserted that much of the money went straight into Taylor's pockets, which Taylor denied.
Robertson's company, of which he was president and sole director, was called Freedom Gold, Ltd. The agreement gave the Liberian government 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period.
Roslan, Robertson's spokesman, said Freedom Gold's arrangement was similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
"This concession was granted by the Liberian government to promote economic activity and alleviate the suffering of the people of Liberia following a terrible civil war," said Roslan, who denied any quid pro quo for granting the concession, and said that Robertson saw this as a way to help the suffering people of Liberia.
Freedom Gold is not currently operating and has never commercially produced any gold, according to Roslan.
Hm.
Bush, Clinton, Obama, whoever…if you're actually trying to do good things, you should probably try to avoid doing them with a dictator. If you can't…make sure that dictator never goes to trial.