Obama Friend Says He Never Bribed Wright

Ed Klein’s new book, The Amateur, includes a quote from Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s controversial former reverend, saying, “After the media went ballistic on me, I received an email offering me money not to preach at all until the November presidential election.” The Obama friend who supposedly attempted to bribe Wright was not named in the book but Klein has made clear on his media tour that it’s Eric Whitaker, associate dean and executive vice president of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Whitaker responded to an inquiry by ABC News about the allegation, writing in an email, “I have received your message asking whether I’d offered any sort of bribe during the 2008 campaign. The answer is no. Thank you for giving me the chance to respond.”