[Article] Lawmaker Seeks Probe of Pentagon Adviser Perle

dahamsta

(This belongs at the end of the thread on the Guardian's Perle piece.:))

Lawmaker Seeks Probe of Pentagon Adviser Perle

Tue Mar 25, 1:51 PM ET Add Politics - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democrat called for an investigation of Richard Perle, an influential architect of the war on Iraq (news - web sites), for possible conflicts of interest in his roles as corporate adviser and Pentagon (news - web sites) consultant.

Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), asked the Pentagon's inspector general to probe Perle's work as a paid adviser to bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing Ltd. and guide to companies on investment opportunities resulting from the Iraq conflict.

Perle was not available for comment on Tuesday but has said he has always followed ethics rules. A spokesman for the Defense Department was not available for comment on the issue.

"I am aware of several potential conflicts that warrant your immediate review," Conyers said on Monday in a letter to the Defense Department's Inspector General Joseph Schmitz. The letter was made available on Tuesday.

"Mr. Perle is considered a 'special government employee' and is subject to government ethics prohibition -- both regulatory and criminal -- on using public office for private gain," Conyers' letter said.

Perle chairs the Defense Policy Board, created in 2001 to advise the Pentagon, but has no official policymaking role and is not paid. A leading Washington hawk, he has played an influential role in developing the Bush administration's blueprint for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Critics have questioned Perle's activities when not advising Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

GLOBAL CROSSING REVIEW

Perle signed on to help Global Crossing, a bankrupt operator of an international fiber-optic network, win U.S. approval to sell a 61.5 percent stake to Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte.

The plan has run into trouble with a little-known panel called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The panel, made up of Rumsfeld and other top national security officials, examines mergers and acquisitions for potential harm to U.S. interests and can block such deals.

Global Crossing began talks to restructure its deal after the panel raised concern that its network would be controlled by a company with strong ties to China. Hutchison is majority owned by Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing.

Perle has said he would be paid $125,000 for his advice and another $600,000 if the government approves the deal.

Conyers noted a New York Times article citing a March 7 affidavit in which Perle discussed his "unique perspective" on national defense and security issues and said he had contacted a government official on Global Crossing's behalf.

"The fact that Mr. Perle may be reconsidering filing the affidavit does not alter the existence of the alleged conflict," Conyers said.

Conyers also asked the Pentagon to probe reports that Perle participated in a conference call sponsored by Goldman Sachs to discuss investment opportunities emerging from the war in Iraq and that he received stock options from a company that does business with the U.S. military.

"I would submit that it is a conflict of interest for a high-ranking government official to be proffering advice on how to profit from the war," Conyers said.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman had no immediate comment.

Conyers also pointed out that Perle sits on the board of Autonomy Corp., which lists the U.S. Army and military as customers, and received stock options.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

dahamsta

They dodged the bullets, picked up the casings, packed them with sawdust and sold them to the highest bidder. Har har.

adam

dahamsta

Former Pentagon official Richard Perle resigns as key Rumsfeld adviser

ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

Thursday, March 27, 2003

(03-27) 15:59 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

Former Pentagon official Richard Perle resigned Thursday as chairman of a group that advises Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on policy issues, saying he did not want a controversy over his business dealings to distract from Rumsfeld's management of the war in Iraq.

In a brief statement, Rumsfeld thanked Perle for his service and said he was grateful that the former Reagan administration official had agreed to remain a board member. Rumsfeld made no reference to a reason for Perle giving up the chairmanship.

Perle said he was stepping aside voluntarily.

"I have seen controversies like that before and I know that this one will inevitably distract from the urgent challenge in which you are now engaged," Perle wrote in a resignation letter.

In the letter, made public by the Pentagon and dated March 26, Perle assured Rumsfeld that he had abided by rules applying to members of the Defense Policy Board. He has been chairman of the board since July 2001. The position is unpaid but is subject to government ethics rules that prohibit using public office for private gain.

The controversy centers on Perle's deal with bankrupt Global Crossing Ltd. to win government approval of its purchase by a joint venture of two Asian firms. Perle would receive $725,000 for his work, including $600,000 if the government approves the deal, according to lawyers and others involved in the bankruptcy case.

The deal is under review by a government group that includes representatives from the Defense Department.

Perle denied any wrongdoing.

"The guiding principle here is that you do not give advice in the Defense Policy Board on any particular matter in which you have an interest," Perle said in a recent interview. "And I don't do that. I haven't done that."

The Defense Policy Board is a bipartisan group that advises the secretary of defense on a wide range of policy issues. Its 30 members are a mix of former military and government officials. They include former CIA Director James Woolsey, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Air Force Chief of Staff Ronald Fogleman.

Perle wrote in his resignation letter that he could not "quickly or easily quell criticism" in the Global Crossing controversy, adding that it was "based on errors of fact."

Nonetheless, he wrote, "I would not wish to cause even a moment's distraction from" the war effort.

Perle said he was advising Global Crossing that he would not accept any compensation from the pending sale and that any fee for his past services would be donated to the families of American forces killed or injured in Iraq.

In his written statement, Rumsfeld thanked Perle for his service.

"He has been an excellent chairman and has led the Defense Policy Board during an important time in our history," Rumsfeld said. "I should add that I have known Richard Perle for many years and know him to be a man of integrity and honor."

Perle was an assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan administration.

He became involved in another controversy stemming from an article in The New Yorker that said he had lunch in January with Saudi-born businessman Adnan Khashoggi and a Saudi industrialist.

The industrialist, Harb Saleh Zuhair, was interested in investing in a venture capital firm, Trireme Partners, of which Perle is a managing partner. Nothing ever came of the lunch in Marseilles; no investment was made. But the New Yorker story, written by Seymour M. Hersh, suggested that Perle, a longtime critic of the Saudi regime, was inappropriately mixing business and politics.

Perle called the report preposterous and "monstrous."

Perle, 61, was so strongly opposed to nuclear arms control agreements with the former Soviet Union during his days in the Reagan administration that he became known as "the Prince of Darkness."

davelerave

he's been fired i think

daveirl

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Slutmonkey57b

The Defense Policy Board is a bipartisan group that advises the secretary of defense ..... They include ....... former Vice President Dan Quayle,

Oh

My

God.


That's almost scary enough to turn me anti-war.

daveirl

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dahamsta

Originally posted by davelerave
he's been fired i think

He resigned, but only as the Chair. He's still on the advisory committee.

adam

daveirl

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dahamsta

Yip. Let's hope Rep. John Conyers follows through.

adam

davelerave

Originally posted by dahamsta
He resigned, but only as the Chair. He's still on the advisory committee.

adam

yeh i should have said resigned i'm sure it's just window dressing anywayz