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Posted on 05/05/2006 11:33:14 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Goss quits as CIA chief
By Joseph Curl and Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published May 6, 2006
CIA Director Porter J. Goss resigned abruptly yesterday, leaving a post he held for less than two years and becoming the latest high-level administration official to be ensnared in a White House shake-up.
Mr. Goss, widely unpopular among senior officials in the intelligence community and blamed for repeated leaks in recent months, called President Bush yesterday morning to offer his resignation. "I've accepted it," the president said.
Yesterday's announcement was hastily arranged, with the two men speaking briefly to reporters in the Oval Office, just before Mr. Bush departed for an afternoon bike ride.
Mr. Bush dodged questions about a possible successor, but Time magazine reported on its Web site late last night that the president planned to name Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to the post, possibly as soon as Monday.
Gen. Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, previously served as director of the National Security Agency and was one of the chief architects of the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program.
Among others mentioned as possible replacements were Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state who administration officials say has been lobbying for the job; Frances Fragos Townsend, Mr. Bush's homeland security adviser; David Shedd, chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte; and Mary Margaret Graham, Mr. Negroponte's deputy for intelligence collection.
The president yesterday praised the departing CIA director for his service.
"I appreciate his integrity. ... Porter's tenure at the CIA was one of transition, where he's helped this agency become integrated into the intelligence community. And that was a tough job, and he's led ably," Mr. Bush said. "He honors the proud history of the CIA.....
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Yikes. A smart man, who seems pretty down-to-Earth, but the last thing the CIA needs is more of a State Dept. flavor.
Goss's resignation may have been "abrupt" (sprung out of the blue) but some people think that this was part of the plan all along. Goss helped set the stage for Necroponte's takeover of CIA Directorate responsibilities (with Goss's blessing).
I happen to believe that Patrick Kennedy's debacle made the announcement of Goss's resignation even more abrupt, as Bush saw an opportunity to split the news cycle with the Kennedy story. Smart. In fact, listening to the radio as I do most of the day (in my car), it was clear that the Kennedy story dominated the programming (including Rush and Hannity) even after the announcement. Coincidences like this do not happen in politics.
I was scratching my head this afternoon with the emphasis on the Kennedy story, knowing that without it, the LSM would have been hyping the Goss story and predicting the final gloom and doom of the failed Bush presidency.
I wonder if Tony Snow said; "Mr. President, let's do this!".
Thanks, Lancey, you got me thinking! :)
Could this have anything to do with Able Danger and Clinton having Curt Weldon voted out of a job??????
Works for me, and Porter is an untouchable asset. Damn clever. W never ceases to amaze.
But if I were Bush, I would appoint Darth Vader to the CIA.
How about Tomás de Torquemada?
I actually submitted a resume to the Bush Admin back in 2001 for an IG position. Who better to clean up the messes before they hit the front page of the NYT? Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Exactly -- how I see it too.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this, could you explain please?
Isn't Richard Armitage the leaker in the Plame Game?
I thought about that after I posted; It just seems odd that Goss would just 'quit' like that....I wonder if we will ever know what has really taken place....
An intelligence agency should be free from political pressures and should be able to present facts as they are.
.....Porter's tenure at the CIA was one of transition.....
I believe this is the crux of the matter. He was never intended to remain forever. His job was to upset the applecart so the real head would not have all that baggage when he took over.
.....How about Tomás de Torquemada?......
He's Catholic.
Perhaps I worded it poorly, but my point was the political skill displayed by the President in the timing of the announcement, the apparent choice of Hayden as a replacement, and the fact that Goss can remain a trusted advisor to the President, but without the scrutiny he would recieve as a public figure.
Hope that helps, Rob.
This appears to be related to the expanding hookergate scandal involving Kyle "Dusty" Foggo,Duke Cunningham, and "partners".
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32916&dcn=todaysnews
According to past and present CIA officials interviewed over the past month, CIA executive director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo--whose career duties have encompassed letting CIA contracts--has had a long, close personal relationship with two contractors identified (though not explicitly named) in court papers as bribing Cunningham: Brent Wilkes of the Wilkes Corp., whose subsidiaries include defense contractor ADCS; and former ADCS consultant Mitchell Wade, until recently president of defense contractor MZM, Inc. It is a relationship, the CIA officials say (with some putting a particular emphasis on Wilkes), that has increasingly been of concern.
One current and two retired senior CIA officials told Government Executive that (as noted last week by reporter Laura Rozen in The American Prospect's TAPPED blog) the relationship of Wilkes and Foggo--who the CIA's Web site declares is "under cover and cannot be named at this time," even though he is pictured and identified on a federal charity web page--has been a subject of increasing concern by some at Langley.
Another recently-retired senior agency official, while not naming Wilkes or Wade by name, also noted concerns borne out of both personal experience with and reports from colleagues about Foggo. "If you were a case officer and worked with him, you'd be saying to yourself, 'I've got to watch this guy,'" says the former official. "There is one contractor with whom he enjoys a very, very, very close relationship."
According to several of the officers interviewed for this article, Foggo and Wilkes have been friends since at least their college years at San Diego State University in the 1970s, where they were roommates. According to several regulars at Washington's Capital Grille, the two jointly lease one of the restaurant's private wine lockers.
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/67926.htm
SEX SCANDAL JOLTS CONGRESS
By GEOFF EARLE
May 3, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Congress was abuzz yesterday over a shocking investigation of lawmakers that involves a top spy, limos, and hookers.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether contractors provided rogue former Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham with prostitutes as part of a bribery scandal that landed the lawmaker in the slammer.
At issue is whether two government contractors gave Cunningham free limousine service and lined up hookers for sex trysts in Washington's Watergate Hotel.
"The guy's certainly a scumbag - this is just more proof of that," said one House Republican aide...
EXCLUSIVE: Top CIA Official Under Investigation: No. 3 Official at CIA Is Subject of Investigation Related to Bribery Probe
Armitage is slimey....Powell's lap dog.
CIA IG opened an investigation on Foggy who was appointed by Goss - Mary McCarthy's old turf, how interesting. Looks like CIA IG is going to get a new boss. So, just possibly, Bush cut Clinton Moles off at the pass....
Um, I went to SDSU in the 70s too, graduated in 1978. Wish I could remember all the details from back then. Ah, college....
"At issue is whether two government contractors gave Cunningham free limousine service and lined up hookers for sex trysts in Washington's Watergate Hotel."
In case there are some folks not following this closely, the company providing limousine service for polititians and Administration officials and hookers had a very lucrative contract with the Department of Homeland Security.Why those folks cannot drive there own cars and hire taxis like all the working stiffs paying the bills do, I do not know.
Ping.
Perhaps a totally different and plausible answer, per freepers comments.
Some would like to make that connection stick,.....I doubt it!
Exactly.
From Drudge, via Vanity Fair: Former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee names Richard Armitage as Bob Woodward's source for the Valerie Plame leak.
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/014295.html
>>Mr. Goss, widely unpopular among senior officials in the intelligence community and blamed for repeated leaks in recent months, called President Bush yesterday morning to offer his resignation. "I've accepted it," the president said. >>
Goss blamed for the leaks?!
I haven't heard that but then this is the Times - different from the Post but also with a warped perspective.
Isn't this kind of scary ? I mean, NOBODY knows ANYTHING.....are we frogs in the pot ?
Huh.....there is lots of speculation....but it is really just the usual turf wars type of thing....
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Very nice It looks like Rummy is directing it all!! |
Careful Richard Armitage, has the questionable baggage that has never been clarified...Vietnam POW's
So who knew??!! Shoulda done less partying and more networking!
What about Armitage and the Vietnam POW's?? What's THAT story?
google "Armitage and the Vietnam POW's!" there is a dark cloud swilling around this man and it never has been clarified!
Conspiracy or an ounce of truth whatever, Armitage has always been suspect!
thanks.
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