Lake's withdrawal letter to President Clinton

More Questions For Lake (3/12/97)

Lake's Confirmation Hearing Finally Begins (3/11/97)

Congressional Report Suggests Lake Misled Lawmakers (1/27/97)

Key Republicans Grumble About CIA Nominee (12/15/96)

Clinton Defends CIA Nominee Lake (12/12/96)

Central Intelligence Agency

National Security Agency

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Pointing Fingers

On the Hill, Dems are angry over Lake's treatment while GOP defends confirmation process

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 18) -- Anthony Lake's decision to end his bid to head the CIA took Washington by surprise and quickly led to a wave of finger-pointing.

After weathering three months of bitter wrangling over his nomination and three days of tough, but fairly successful confirmation hearings, many insiders thought Lake had a chance of eventually being confirmed.

But the former national security advisor saw no end to his battle, and in his withdrawal letter to President Bill Clinton, Lake blamed the rancor of Washington for politicizing his nomination beyond recovery.

"Washington has gone haywire. I hope that sooner, rather than later, people of all political views beyond our city limits will demand that Washington give priority to policy over partisanship, to governing over 'gotcha,'" Lake wrote.

But Lake's most vocal critic, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), denies that his actions, or that of any other Republicans, were personally or politically motivated. "I think it was not political at all," Shelby said.

Shelby also took issue with Lake's characterization of the confirmation hearings as "nasty and brutish without being short."

"I don't think that the hearings were brutal, but they were rigorous, and they should be rigorous when you have anyone nominated for a job to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency," Shelby said.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) disagreed, accusing the Republican-controlled committee of "character assassination." Daschle told reporters he has never seen such "rough-shod treatment" of a nominee in "all my days as leader," and that the committee should apologize to Lake.

Those sentiments are echoed at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where the White House is angry over what it calls an "inexcusably flawed" process that Lake went through. The administration has suggested that Shelby should be held accountable for the politically based actions of the committee.

Despite the months of naysaying, some Republican members of the intelligence committee are now expressing surprise at Lake's decision, saying he handled himself well during last week's pointed questioning.

Committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, "I'm surprised. I thought he was doing quite well. He came across well... I think he would have made it through the process. I personally liked him, wanted to vote for him and probably in the end would have."

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said, "I am disappointed in the way Mr. Lake has withdrawn. I like him personally but I guess [it's] better to find out now that he doesn't like the process or the rough and tumble of Washington."

"I thought he answered the questions very well with a great deal of poise and he certainly kept his cool, as it were. So I thought he was doing all right. But obviously it was bothering him more than he let on," Kyl said.

But Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) said that Lake is a victim of the gray line dividing policy from politics. "I think what really hit him here was the barrier that usually exists between intelligence on one side or policy on one side and politics on the others. That barrier began to erode and break down," Hamilton said.

"Washington can be a very tough, brutish town sometimes," Hamilton said. "Ordinarily this process works pretty well, but when the hatchets are out, when the partisan banners are flying, they can be very, very tough and they certainly were in Lake's case."