Washington Post Sits on Story for a Week
by Wayne Madsen
October 10 , 2003, 1200 PDT, (FTW)
-- WASHINGTON, At
Around 9 PM on September 29, Fairfax County, Virginia
police responded to a 911 call describing an accident.
However, they soon discovered they were not dealing
with a routine emergency but the mysterious death of
an employee of the 47-year old brother of President
George W. Bush, venture capitalist Marvin Bush.
Sixty-two year old Bertha Champagne, described as a
long time "baby sitter" for Marvin and Margaret Bush's
two children, son Walker, 13, and daughter Marshall,
17, was found crushed to death by her own vehicle in a
driveway in front of the Bush family home in the
Alexandria section of Fairfax County.
Champagne reportedly lived at the Bush family home
Champagne had left the residence to retrieve something
from her car, which police say had somehow been left
in gear.
According to the police report, the car
rolled forward and pinned the woman between it and a
small building next to the driveway (possibly a
checkpoint built by the Secret Service when Marvin's
father, George H. W. Bush, was president).
The car crossed Edgehill Drive, a small street in front of the Bush compound. The vehicle then crossed a busy
two-lane street, Fort Hunt Road, finally coming to
rest in a wooded area across the street that adjoins
the prestigious Belle Haven Country Club. No
explanations have been offered as to why the vehicle
did not move until Champagne was in a position to be
crushed.
Champagne was pronounced dead on arrival at Inova
Mount Vernon Hospital. Courtney Young, a spokesperson
for the Fairfax County police was surprised when asked
about the circumstances surrounding Champagne's death.
She indicated the media was primarily focused on
another Fairfax County story, the kidnapping and
holdup of the wife of New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg
on October 7.
More mystifying is the fact that the
Washington Post waited almost an entire week to
publish the story about the baby sitter's death. The
incident occurred on September 29, but the Post did
not report it until October 5 and buried it on page 3
of the Metro section. Nevertheless, the Washington
Post was the only media outlet to cover the story at
all. Young said police still did not know the exact
cause of Champagne's death.
Young said the police had posted the incident on its
web site in a press release, although the report makes
no mention of Marvin Bush. It reads:
A 62-year-old Alexandria area woman died after being
pinned between a rolling car and a building. The
crash happened on Monday, around 9 pm, near the
intersection of Fort Hunt Road and Edgehill Drive.
Bertha Champagne had gone outside to get something
from a car in a driveway. The car, which was left in
gear, began to roll forward. Champagne was pinned
between the car and a small building next to the
driveway. The car continued to roll down the
driveway, crossed Fort Hunt Road, and came to rest in
a wooded area. Champagne was taken to Inova Mount
Vernon Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The press release is dated September 30 at 1330 (1:30
PM), some sixteen and a half hours after the incident
occurred. The police were well aware of Marvin Bush's
controversial role in serving on corporate boards for
companies associated with the 911 terrorist attacks,
however, they emphasized that Champagne's death was
merely a quirky accident and no foul play was
involved.
According to two articles in the Progressive Populist
written by Margie Burns, from 1993 to 2000, Bush
served on the board of Securacom (since renamed
Stratesec).
The chairman of the board of Stratesec is
Wirt D. Walker III, a cousin of Marvin and George W.
Bush. Securacom had contracts to provide security for
Dulles International Airport (the airport from which
American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the
Pentagon, originated) and the World Trade Center in
New York. Securacom's backers include a number of
Kuwaitis through a company called KuwAm Corp
(Kuwaiti-American Corp.).
Stratesec also has Saudi investors. Walker also serves as a managing director of KuwAm, which maintains offices within the Watergate complex along with Riggs Bank, on whose board Bush's uncle, Jonathan Bush, sits.
