Neil Bush and First Family Politics

Oct. 1, 2004 -- — President George W. Bush's younger brother, Neil Bush, 49, has put himself and his prominent family into an unflattering election year spotlight.

In a revealing videotaped divorce proceeding obtained by 20/20, Neil disclosed numerous business deals that gave him generous financial benefits for minimal effort. Also detailed were the startling sexual liaisons he had while on business trips in Asia.

In the March 3, 2003, deposition, Neil testified to earning $60,000 a year to be co-chairman of Crest Investment Company for, on average, three or four hours a week of work.

When asked the specifics of his position with the Houston-based company, Neil said he was responsible for "answering phone calls when Jamal Daniel, the other co-chairman, when he called and asked for advice."

Daniel, a Syrian-born businessman based in Houston, is also an advisory board member of New Bridge Strategies, LLC, a company "created specifically with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the U.S.-led war in Iraq," according to its Web site.

New Bridge, based in Houston, lists as the principals of the company a group of well-connected businessmen with serious political weight. There are former members of both Bush administrations, the powerful lobbyists Ed Rogers and Lanny Griffith, and John Howland, also a principal of the Crest Investment Company.

Rogers and Griffith told ABC News they were unaware of any connection the company might have to Neil Bush.

And as the violence was escalating this March in Iraq, while Daniel was helping to arrange for clients lucrative contracts in Iraq, he also hosted a lavish second wedding at his Houston mansion for his longtime friend and now business associate Neil Bush, who was marrying for the second time.

Daniel declined to comment for this story.

"I think it shames the Bushes and I think it shames Americans that it doesn't shame the Bushes," said Kevin Phillips, a former Republican strategist and author of The American Dynasty, a critical look about the Bush family.

Observers of the Bush family say Neil has always chosen his friends carefully.