CBS Said to Pay $5,000 for Hart Videotape
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DES MOINES, Iowa — An insurance man and three friends cashed in on Gary Hart’s political troubles by selling video footage they took in March of Hart on the yacht Monkey Business to the national media.
CBS News reportedly paid the Des Moines men $5,000 for video showing Hart accompanied by an unidentified bikini-clad woman--apparently not Donna Rice--on the yacht docked in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in late March.
The network aired the video Thursday night while reporting Hart would drop out of the presidential sweepstakes today.
The pictures were shot by Des Moines insurance man Jon Murrell, who along with stockbroker Steve Staub and two other men were vacationing in Florida in late March. That was the same period when Hart reportedly sailed aboard Monkey Business to Bimini with Rice.
Trying Out Camera
The men took still photos as well and turned the package over to a New York broker for sale to the media, Staub said. Murrell had just purchased a video camera and was trying it out when his group spotted Hart on the boat.
Staub said the Iowans recognized Hart from his frequent visits to Iowa.
The video shows Hart relaxing aboard the fantail of Monkey Business while an unidentified woman in a bathing suit stands behind him. The woman later left the yacht to compete in a bar’s “Hot Bod” contest, Staub said.
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