Al Gore Recalls Turning Down Stolen Information During 2000 Election

Stephen Proctor

Former Vice President Al Gore dropped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and recalled receiving illegally obtained and unsolicited information about the George W. Bush campaign during the 2000 election. The recent troubles surrounding Donald Trump Jr. and his alleged collusion with a Russian lawyer have drawn comparisons to what happened with Gore, but there is one major difference: Gore didn’t want the information.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, left, and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore at their third and final debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Oct. 17, 2000. (Photo: AP/Ron Edmonds)
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, left, and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore at their third and final debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Oct. 17, 2000. (Photo: AP/Ron Edmonds)

Prior to one of the debates, Gore received the Bush campaign’s debate-prep book.

“Somebody had stolen it, evidently, from the Bush campaign and mailed it to my close friend Tom Downey, who was going to be the Bush stand-in in debate prep,” Gore said.

Rather than use the information to try to gain an advantage over Bush, the Gore campaign did the right thing.

“We immediately turned it over to the FBI, and Tom recused himself from the whole debate process,” Gore said.

Gore also, as a quick jab at the current administration, was quick to point out that the stolen information was not sent to him by Moscow.

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