Bush Administration Spread Propaganda In Violation Of The Law.

The Government Accountability Office has determined that the Bush administration violated the law when it secretly paid columnist Armstrong Williams to promote the No Child Left Behind Act. By doing so, the GAO said that the administration was distributing “covert propaganda” in violation of the law.

The USA Today broke the story back in January when the paper obtained a Freedom of Information Act request that showed that Armstrong Williams had been paid $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote the No Child Left Behind legislation. Days later Education Secretary Roderick Page defended the move, now found by the GAO to be illegal, calling it an “outreach effort.”

Armstrong Williams defended himself, saying that he was “not the only one” who was recieving money in exchange for giving positive news coverage to the Bush administration.