The Bush administration, once again demonstrating its respect for a free and independent press, has been caught paying reporters in Miami.

The Bush administration’s Office of Cuba Broadcasting paid 10 journalists here to provide commentary on Radio and TV Martí, which transmit to Cuba government broadcasts critical of Fidel Castro, a spokesman for the office said Friday.

The group included three journalists at El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language sister newspaper of The Miami Herald, which fired them Thursday after learning of the relationship. Pablo Alfonso, who reports on Cuba for El Nuevo Herald, received the largest payment, almost $175,000 since 2001.

The Bush gang paying journalists with public funds? That hardly ever happens, right? Oh wait....

– Guest post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report