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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (2468)	1/30/2002 5:35:57 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Columba Bush says she's ashamed about run-in with U.S. Customs Thursday, July 29, 1999 By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press ORLANDO - Florida's first lady said Wednesday she was ashamed about failing to declare $19,000 worth of clothes and jewelry she purchased on a Paris shopping spree last month. "The embarrassment I brought on myself made me ashamed to face my family and friends," Columba Bush said in her first public appearance snce her run-in with U.S. Customs officials in Atlanta. Florida's first lady, Columba Bush, addresses the 1999 Kids for Wish Kids luncheon sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Orlando Wednesday. Bush told reporters she was ashamed about failing to declare $19,000 worth of clothes andjewelry she purchased on a shopping spree last month. Peter Cosgrove / AP Mrs. Bush was fined $4,100 and became the butt of jokes by Jay Leno and others after the incident made headlines across the nation. Speaking at a luncheon for the Central Florida Make-A-Wish-Foundation, Mrs. Bush apologized for what she called "an awful mistake." Mrs. Bush said she now realizes the responsibility that comes with being married to Gov. Jeb Bush. "I am by nature a very private person, some might even call me shy," she said. "I did not ask to join a famous family, simply to marry a man that I loved. But with that decision came a responsibility beyond anything that I could imagine and my recent actions made that painfully apparent." Mrs. Bush paid the duty and fines with a personal check after she landed in Atlanta on her return from Paris to Tallahassee. International travelers do not have to pay duties on foreign purchases that total less than $400. Mrs. Bush declared only $500 worth of merchandise. Mrs. Bush told reporters the governor has helped her through the public criticism following the incident. "Jeb has been wonderful. He has been very supportive, very loving and he says 'C'mon, we have to keep on going,'" she said. Mrs. Bush wouldn't elaborate on what she purchased nor did she offer an explanation for why she failed to declare the merchandise. "It's an accident and I regret it with all my heart," she said.

To: Mephisto who wrote (2468)	1/30/2002 5:37:12 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

Jeb Bush's Daughter Is Arrested on Charge of Faking Prescription January 30, 2002 The New York Times By DANA CANEDY IAMI, Jan. 29 - Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter was arrested early this morning and charged with prescription fraud after she illegally tried to obtain the antianxiety drug Xanax from a Walgreens pharmacy in Tallahassee, the police said. The police said the governor's daughter, Noelle, 24, posing as a Dr. Noel Scidmore, called in the prescription late Monday night. Ms. Bush, who is President Bush's niece, was arrested by a Tallahassee police officer at 1:15 a.m. today after she tried to pick up the prescription, the police said. The pharmacist on duty, Carlos Zimmerman, became suspicious because the prescription did not include a quantity. He called the doctor's answering service and was told that Dr. Scidmore no longer practiced in the state and that the prescription appeared to be fraudulent. When Ms. Bush arrived, Mr. Zimmerman called the police, he said in a police statement. The police described Ms. Bush as "very shaky" when she was questioned at the scene. Officers obtained a copy of the recorded prescription order and asked Ms. Bush whether she had posed as the doctor. "My observation is that the voice on the voice mail and the voice of Miss Bush appear identical," Officer Mark Dent said in a report. Ms. Bush denied having called in the prescription, but admitted that the phone line used to make the call was a second line at her home, the authorities said. She was released without bond pending an arraignment on Thursday. She could get up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted. A 2000 graduate of Tallahassee Community College, Ms. Bush was to have begun a job today as an administrative assistant for Infinity Software Development in Tallahassee. The company said in a statement that the job offer still stood. Governor Bush issued a statement today but said neither he nor the family would comment further. "Columba and I are deeply saddened over an incident that occurred last night involving our daughter, Noelle," Governor Bush said in the statement. Ms. Bush is the second of the governor's three children and his only daughter. Governor Bush's statement acknowledged that she had a substance abuse problem. "This is a very serious problem," it said. "Substance abuse is an issue confronting many families across our nation. We ask the public and the media to respect our family's privacy during this difficult time so that we can help our daughter." Ms. Bush's cousins, the president's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, were arrested last year on charges of under-age drinking and pleaded no contest. nytimes.com