The Bush family/Moon relationship dates back "to the overlap between Bush's one-year tenure as CIA director (1976) and the arrival of in Washington of Moon, whose Unification Church was widely reported to be a front group for the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency [KCIA]," Phillips wrote in his bestselling book "American Dynasty -- Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush."

During a time when the activities of the KCIA were the subject of a U.S. congressional investigation -- dubbed Koreagate -- Phillips pointed out that "within Washington councils, Bush was a powerful voice against any unnecessary crackdown on the U.S. activities of allied intelligence services."

"One of George H.W. Bush's first tasks as director of the CIA was managing the 'Koreagate' scandal, in which the government of South Korea and its intelligence agents had waged espionage against the U.S, government," Fred Clarkson, a co-founder of Talk2Action and the author of "Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy" -- which includes a chapter on the Moon organization -- told me in an e-mail exchange.

"Some of those agents were leading members of Moon's Unification church. Some members managed to infiltrate Congressional staffs -- primarily Democrats," he said.

After the founding of Moon's Washington Times in the early 1980s, the newspaper consistently supported the Ronald Reagan-Bush team in its version of the events surrounding the Iran-Contra scandal. According to Clarkson, "the Moon organization was part of the private supply lines to the Nicaraguan contras, The Washington Times was given special access and provided consistently flattering coverage and the newspaper also set up a special fund for private funding of the contras."

In 1996, the relationship became decidedly financial when the former president traveled to Latin America to help Moon launch Tiempos del Mundo (Times of the World). At the time Bush called Moon's flagship U.S. publication, the Washington Times, "an independent voice" and assured the crowd that "Tiempos del Mundo... [will be] the same thing." According to published reports Bush received at least 100,000 dollars for his participation in that event.

More recently, Moon's Washington Times Foundation funneled a million dollars to Bush's presidential library through the Houston, Texas-based Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Moon has also contributed to the financial wellbeing of other Bush family members. In 2005, Neil Bush, the former president's son and current president's brother, accompanied Moon on a few legs of the reverend's "World Peace King Bridge-Tunnel" tour, showing up at his side in the Philippines and Taiwan.

Late last year, Business Week reported Neil Bush's Ignite! Inc. -- an educational software company featuring what it calls "curriculum on wheels," or COWs -- received a million dollars from "a foundation linked to the controversial Reverend Sun Myung Moon... for a COWs research project in Washington-area schools."

But perhaps the most tangible aspect of the close relationship between the Bush family and Rev. Moon is the unbending support the Washington Times has given to George W. Bush since he announced he was running for the presidency. In recent years, the newspaper's editorial and opinion pages have consistently supported the president's "war on terror" and war in Iraq.

In the House of Moon

"The Rev. Moon is a monster in the laboratory of conservative politics; no one wants to think about him, yet in order to ensure his continued support they must periodically feed his appetite for tribute," John Gorenfeld, an investigative reporter and a longtime chronicler of Moon's activities, said in an e-mail. "One of Moon's paybacks at Times-sponsored events is to have his picture taken and rub shoulders with the politically powerful and well-connected."

"Besides the gift of the support of the Washington Times, Bush and his son have accepted large amounts of money from Moon's church," said Gorenfeld, the author of a forthcoming book about the Rev. Moon and U.S. politics.

"In the Clinton years, George and Barbara Bush toured Japan with Moon, as well as Argentina. He is believed to have taken over a million dollars. More recently, a Moon company funneled 250,000 dollars to the fund for George W. Bush's inauguration."

Moon's enterprises extend far beyond the Unification Church, says Steve Hassan, an expert on cults and a licensed mental health counselor who was once a leader in the Moon organization.

"There are a number of business and political fronts; it's a multi-billion-dollar international conglomerate headed by a demagogue who claims that he's the greatest guy in history, who wants to abolish democracy, end or destroy the United Nations and set up a theocracy for his heirs to rule," Hassan told me in a telephone interview.

When the elder Bush takes to the podium next month, it would be surprising if the close relationship between the Bush family and Moon is scrutinized by the mainstream media, since it has been basically ignored or glossed over for decades, Hassan insists.

"It infuriates me, as one who has been in the group and often heard Moon say that he wanted to destroy democracy and take over the world, that the mainstream media has not gotten this story right," he said. "While they have talked about corporate lobbying, they've neglected to discuss the lobbying and political influence of cults. Moon has been basically mainstreamed."

Hassan also noted that Moon's operation in the U.S., which began with the "street recruiting" of members -- especially in university towns -- has shifted to lavish dinners and awards ceremonies where Moon is able to hobnob with powerful political figures and later claim their allegiance.

"Having George H.W. Bush come and speak at the Washington Times anniversary event is definitely a coup," Hassan pointed out.

"That George H.W. Bush has such a long term alliance with the theocratic Rev. Moon, who for all of his flag waving is on record as hating American constitutional democracy, is disturbing and will no doubt come to be seen as a defining aspect of Bush's political career, before, during and since his presidency," Fred Clarkson added.

"Bush's headlining the Washington Times' 25th anniversary event couldn't be more appropriate, since the Rev. Moon and Bush's fortunes, political and otherwise have been closely intertwined for decades."

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