Some Information About the Amway/Bush Connection

Just as the National Rifle Association and the NAACP are special interest groups with a political agenda, so, I believe, people interested in MLM form a special interest group. Readers of this website are entitled to know about the MLM connections of political candidates, especially candidates for major offices.

It's well known that the Republican Party has strong ties to Amway, its founders, and its kingpin distributors. After all, co-founder Richard M. DeVos is one of the biggest contributors to the party; his daughter-in-law Betsy, wife of son Dick, has been the Republican Committee Chair in Michigan. Dexter Yager, Bill Britt, and many other Amway distributor "leaders" have contributed heavily to the party and to individual candidates. Sue Myrick, Representative from North Carolina, owes her election to Yager and his Amway organization. Former President Bush has spoken at Amway-related functions, as have former President Gerald Ford, and Republican heavyweights Newt Gingrich, Oliver North, and many others. Gingrich brokered a tax loophole plan that benefits Amway's owners -- and nobody else! -- to the tune of millions of dollars annually.

Recently, a number of news items both in the US and in Europe have discussed the relationship between Presidential candidate George W. Bush and Doug Wead. Wead, a would-be Representative from Arizona, author, and motivational speaker has been a friend of the family for years. He served as an advisor to the Bush administration when GW's father was in the White House.

Wead is described by US News and World Report as an "old friend and advisor" to George W. Bush. Bill Mintuglio, in his book about George W., First Son, describes Wead as a man who had spent years "preparing strategy reports" for both President Bush and GW. He was a White House Aide during the Bush administration. Wead's connections with Amway and the failed PTL empire of Jim and Tammi Faye Bakker are also mentioned. Wead, a divorced Baptist minister and author, has co-authored books with Yager.

Wead was defeated in his Congressional bid after Sen. Barry Goldwater, a very conservative Republican, threw his substantial weight behind Wead's Democratic opponent.

"Goldwater said Wead's stance on abortion and his Christianity were reasons for Goldwater's opposition. Goldwater stunned the Christian community with his remark, "I don't think God should be sold for money."

However, Wead's Amway connections are deeper, and shadier, than most people are aware.

The French Connection

Doug Wead, along with then-wife Gloria, were Diamonds in Amway. Personally sponsored by Dexter and Birdie Yager, Wead earned large sums of money speaking at Amway-related functions throughout the Yager organization. His Amway tentacles spread out from the US into other countries, including France.

In 1986, the French government began investigating Amway. They determined that the Amway business in France was a dangerous mind-control cult, and a fraudulent business. Amway France promptly terminated the distributorship of Wead's associate, kingpin Jean Godzich, from whose group many of the complaints had originated.

Wead and Godzich then began a new multi-level marketing "business" in France, called "Groupement" or GEPM. Their product line consisted of Amway products, apparently purchased by Wead and then re-packaged. Their business structure was identical to Amway's, and the cultic activities were as blatant.

The French authorities, after receiving numerous complaints about GEPM, issued 15 arrest warrants. Thirteen distributors were arrested. The other two warrants were for Godzich and Wead. Godzich fled the country, taking a substantial amount of money with him. Wead never returned to France. GEPM trials were still being held as recently as June, 2000.

A source who has been investigating the activities of Amway and GEPM in France, and who has been present during some of the legal proceedings, describes Groupement's manipulation of its members -- the majority of whom lost significant amounts of money -- as a "criminogenic ritual belief system." He claims that at one time, Wead and Godzich also shared offices in Arizona.

If this is the background of a "trusted adviser," what does this say about the leader who listens to him?

You are Survivor #
FastCounter by bCentral

This page updated 2/18/2004