Source: Voice of America
VOA News Report
DATE=03/21/97
TYPE=CLOSE-UP
NUMBER=4-09661
TITLE=WHY LAKE WITHDREW
BYLINE=ANDREW J. BAROCH
TELEPHONE=619-0929
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=NANCY SMART
CONTENT=
[INSERTS ON SOUND ON DEMAND]
INTRO: ANALYSTS SAYS FORMER U-S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER
ANTHONY LAKE WOULD HAVE WON SENATE CONFIRMATION AS HEAD
OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY IF HE HAD NOT
WITHDRAWN HIS NOMINATION. VOA'S ANDREW BAROCH REPORTS
THAT MR. LAKE WAS ANGERED BY THE PARTISAN NATURE OF THE
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS -- BUT HE MAY HAVE HAD OTHER
REASONS FOR BOWING OUT.
TEXT: CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS ON THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE USED ANTHONY LAKE AS A KIND OF "WHIPPING BOY"
TO AVENGE GRIEVANCES THAT DATE BACK TO THE COLD WAR,
ACCORDING TO SOME ANALYSTS. AT ONE POINT, THEY ASKED MR.
LAKE TO EXPLAIN COMMENTS HE'D MADE IN TV INTERVIEW ABOUT
A MATTER OF ANTI-COMMUNIST ORTHDOXY. IT WAS ABOUT ALGER
HISS, A FORMER TOP U-S OFFICIAL IN THE 1940'S AND AN
ACCUSED SOVIET SPY. IN THE INTERVIEW, MR. LAKE APPEARED
TO QUESTION THE VERDICT OF MOST HISTORIANS THAT HISS WAS
GUILTY.
RICHARD COHEN, A LONGTIME POLITICAL OBSERVER AND
COLUMNIST FOR "THE WASHINGTON POST" NEWSPAPER, SAYS THE
REPUBLICANS WERE -- AS HE PUTS IT -- "SETTLING OLD
SCORES."
TAPE CUT ONE -- COHEN
"WHEN HE WAS ASKED WHETHER HE THOUGHT ALGER HISS WAS
GUILTY, IT'S A DIRECT THROWBACK TO THE COLD WAR DAYS,
THE COLDEST DAYS OF THE COLD WAR. IT'S SORT OF LIKE ONCE
AGAIN BRINGING HIM BACK TO THOSE DAYS. I THINK IT PLAYED
A BIG ROLE."
TEXT: MR. COHEN SAYS MR. LAKE'S RESIGNATION FROM THE NIXON
WHITE HOUSE IN 1970 -- IN PROTEST AGAINST THE U-S
INVASION OF CAMBODIA -- ALSO HURT HIS NOMINATION.
TAPE CUT TWO -- COHEN
"THEY DON'T LIKE TONY LAKE AND EVERYTHING HE EVER STOOD
FOR, GOING BACK TO HIS LATE DISSENT ON THE VIETNAM WAR,
AND WHO HE REPRESENTS -- A KIND OF INTELLECTUAL, EAST
COAST, ACADEMIC, FOREIGN POLICY WONK."
TEXT: PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SUBMITTED MR. LAKE'S NAME FOR
CONFIRMATION IN DECEMBER. A VOTE BY THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE WASN'T SCHEDULED UNTIL APRIL. AND THE
COMMITTEE -- WHOSE APPROVAL IS CRUCIAL BEFORE A FULL
SENATE VOTE -- PLANNED EVEN MORE DILATORY TACTICS.
SENATOR RICHARD SHELBY, WHO HAD REQUESTED MR. LAKE'S
PERSONAL DOSSIER FROM THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION, SAID HE FOUND NOTHING DAMAGING IN THE
FILES -- BUT STILL NEEDED TIME TO SHARE IT WITH OTHERS
ON THE PANEL.
THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR ANTHONY LAKE. HE WROTE THE PRESIDENT
THAT HE WAS SICK OF THE DELAYS AND TIRED -- IN HIS WORDS
-- "OF BEING A DANCING BEAR IN A POLITICAL CIRCUS."
BUT SOME ANALYSTS SAY THERE WERE OTHER ELEMENTS THAT
HAMPERED HIS NOMINATION -- AMONG THEM, THE GROWING
NUMBER OF REPORTS THAT FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTORS WITH
QUESTIONABLE BACKGROUNDS GAINED ACCESS TO THE CLINTON
WHITE HOUSE.
MR. LAKE TOLD THE COMMITTEE THAT, AS NATIONAL SECURITY
ADVISER, HE DID NOT KNOW OF FBI WARNINGS TO SOME ON
HIS OWN STAFF THAT CHINESE AGENTS HAD TARGETED SOME U-S
POLITICIANS FOR POLITICAL DONATIONS. MR. LAKE SAID HE
WAS ALSO UNAWARE OF HIS STAFF'S FAILED EFFORTS TO THWART
A MEETING BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND A CONTRIBUTOR
ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT IN LEBANON.
CRITICS ASKED HOW ANTHONY LAKE WOULD MANAGE THE MORE
THAN 16-THOUSAND EMPLOYEES AT THE CIA IF HE HAD TROUBLE
RUNNING A STAFF OF ABOUT 150 AT THE NSC.
ALLAN LICHTMAN IS A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT AMERICAN
UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:
TAPE CUT THREE -- LICHTMAN
"I THINK IT WAS A VERY BAD CONFLUENCE OF EVENTS FOR TONY
LAKE. HIS HEARINGS WERE HELD UP AND EXTENDED AND
VIRTUALLY COINCIDED WITH A DAILY DRUMBEAT OF NEW AND
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS REGARDING FUNDRAISING AND THE
INTERMIXING -- PERHAPS -- OF FUNDRAISING AND THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. THE FACT THAT ALL OF THESE CAME
TOGETHER CERTAINLY WAS A VERY POWERFUL NEGATIVE FOR THIS
NOMINEE AND THESE HEARINGS, AND, INDEED, DID RAISE
SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH HE REALLY
WAS A STRONG AND WELL-INFORMED MANAGER OF THE NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL. THOSE QUESTIONS MAY WELL NOT HAVE KEPT
HIM FROM BEING CONFIRMED. PERHAPS IF HE HAD PERSEVERED
IN THE PROCESS, HE MAY WELL HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED. BUT IT
WAS AN UNFORTUNATE COMBINATION OF EVENTS THAT SIMPLY
THREW A LOT OF FUEL ONTO THE FIRE THAT THE REPUBLICANS
HAD BEEN LIGHTING FOR SOME TIME."
TEXT: BUT OTHER ANALYSTS SAY THE FUNDRAISING ISSUE WASN'T THE
MAJOR THREAT TO HIS NOMINATION. AGAIN, RICHARD COHEN OF
"THE WASHINGTON POST":
TAPE CUT FOUR -- COHEN
"IT DID GET TOUGHER FOR HIM BECAUSE OF THE SCANDAL -- OR
WHATEVER WORDS YOU WANT TO USE -- REGARDING POLTICAL
CONTRIBUTIONS AND WHO HAD ACCESS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AT
WHAT TIME. BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS HE KNEW FROM
THE GET-GO THAT HIS NOMINATION WAS GOING TO BE TOUGH,
AND EIGHT DAYS AGO -- OR WHATEVER IT WAS -- HE DISCUSSED
WITH HIS FRIENDS PULLING OUT -- EVEN BEFORE THE QUESTION
OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS CAME UP. SO IT WASN'T THAT THAT DID
IT."
TEXT: MR. COHEN SAYS MR. LAKE -- AS HE SEES IT -- "JUST GOT
FED UP, AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO LISTEN TO THESE GUYS ANY
LONGER." RICHARD COHEN SAYS THE FAILURE OF THE LAKE
NOMINATION DOES NOT -- IN HIS OPINION --MEAN THE
SENATE CONFIRMATION PROCESS HAS GONE AWRY.
TAPE CUT FIVE -- COHEN
"I'M NOT ONE OF THE THOSE WHO THINK THE WORLD IS COMING
TO AN END AND THAT IT SHOWS THAT YOU CAN'T GET ANYBODY
NOMINATED -- BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SHOW THAT AT ALL. MOST
PEOPLE DO GET NOMINATED AND RATHER QUICKLY AND RATHER
REASONABLY."
TEXT: MR. LAKE'S WITHDRAWAL FROM CONSIDERATION IS SEEN BY SOME
ANALYSTS AS A MAJOR BLOW TO MORALE AT THE CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. THE CIA HAS HAD FIVE DIRECTORS IN
THE LAST SIX YEARS. IT BADLY NEEDS STABILITY AND
IMPROVED MANAGEMENT.
THE SENATE HAS SCHEDULED A VOTE IN APRIL ON PRESIDENT
CLINTON'S NEW CHOICE -- 44-YEAR OLD GEORGE TENET, NOW
THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. HIS
CONFIRMATION APPEARS LIKELY: UNLIKE ANTHONY LAKE, MR.
TENET HAS DEVOTED HIS CAREER TO INTELLIGENCE. AND
ANALYSTS SAY IT WON'T HURT THAT HE ONCE SERVED AS THE
STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE.
(SIGNED)
NEB / AJB / NES
21-Mar-97 4:24 PM EST (2124 UTC)
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