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George W. Bush's bizarre bathroom self-portraits laid bare by audacious hack

George W. Bush's bizarre bathroom self-portraits laid bare by audacious hack

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george w bush self-portrait (smoking gun)
george w bush self-portrait (smoking gun)

George W. Bush has kept things relatively low-profile since leaving the White House four years ago, but it appears he's been busy trying to perfect his painting skills. The Smoking Gun has acquired a collection of Bush family data that hacker Guccifer managed to snag, including photos, private emails, security codes, information on George H.W. Bush's declining health, and more — but the most revelatory find is the pair of unorthodox George W. Bush self-portraits that you see above.

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The two paintings are unfinished; Bush emailed them to his sister Dorothy to show her what he was currently working on. Both show Bush in the bathroom: one is a first-person view of his toes in the bath, while the other is painted from over the former president's shoulder and shows him looking pensively into a shower-mounted mirror. But Bush has a taste for more traditional art, too; another photo shows him working on a mellow church scene.

Guccifer seems unconcerned by the potential repercussions for his daring hack, telling the Smoking Gun that he's been under federal investigation for a long time. "I have an old game with the fucking bastards inside," he added. "This is just another chapter in the game."

Update: Jim McGrath, a spokesman for George H.W. Bush, has told the AFP that "there's a criminal investigation under way" looking into the email hacks, but he added that "I can't get into the specifics." The Wall Street Journal notes that the Secret Service will be conducting the investigation.