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Trump says anyone would collude, but in the 2000 election, I called the FBI

In September of 2000, when Al Gore and George W. Bush were tied in the polls in their race for the White House, I was preparing to play Bush as Gore’s debate prep sparring partner. What happened next ended my role in that campaign, but serves as a contrasting precursor to events in a presidential campaign 16 years later.

The day before our first practice, I received a package of materials from an anonymous source that contained several VHS tapes and “debate materials” and a letter indicating that more documents where on the way. Naturally, I popped in one of the VHS tapes.

The minute I saw George Bush dressed in shorts practicing for a Tim Russert style interview, I knew my role in the Gore campaign was over. The hundreds of hours of preparation studying public tapes of Bush, reading volumes of briefing books, practicing speech patterns and phraseology even at the dinner table, much to the chagrin of my family, was utterly wasted. I stopped the tape after about 15 seconds, picked up the phone and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation and immediately recused myself from the campaign.