Lake Withdraws CIA Nomination (3/17/97)

A CIA Role In Fund-Raising Controversy? (3/17/97)

The Central Intelligence Agency home page

Join a thread, start a thread -- it's your chance to sound off!

Who's Next At Bat?

Acting CIA director Tenet emerging as Clinton's second choice to head agency

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 18) -- With the surprise withdrawal of Anthony Lake as CIA director nominee, the focus has shifted to who might be President Bill Clinton's next choice to head the spy agency.

The leading possibility seems to be acting CIA director George Tenet, an intelligence community veteran who has the respect of many members of the Senate's Select Intelligence Committee.

Also on the list:

Morton Abramowitz, the outgoing head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an oft-mentioned candidate for Clinton appointments. He is a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and State Department official who also headed up State's Intelligence and Research Bureau.

One familiar name that could re-emerge is that of former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia. White House aides said he would be given consideration if he is interested, and Clinton might also consider longtime advisor Strobe Talbott, who was in the running to replace Lake as national security advisor.

Others possible candidates identified by White House sources include Frank Wisner, the U.S. ambassador to India and the son of one of the founders of the CIA; Jamie Gorelick, who recently resigned as deputy attorney general; and former GOP New Hampshire senator Warren Rudman, a long-time member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN today the president should pick someone who is non-controversial and a good manager.

"I wish Mr. Lake well in whatever he does in the future, but our search for a new director of Central Intelligence -- the right person for the job -- will go on," Shelby said.

Asked about possibilities, Shelby said: "I have no candidate in mind. You know, that's a prerogative of the president. I just hope that whoever he sends up will be one, non-controversial, and secondly, a good manager and knowledgeable of intelligence operations."

Asked about Tenet, Shelby said, "George Tenet is a very able person. He was the staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We all know him. He's now deputy director of CIA. That name has been floated around, among others."