To restore the standards of conduct expected of government employees to pre-Clinton levels, President Bush should apply the same high standards to the employees he inherits that he demands of those he hires. The records of those who have held high positions in the Clinton administration and are trying to remain on the government payroll should be carefully reviewed. This should include those who have acquired civil service status or are serving terms fixed by law. If they have violated or condoned serious violations of law, such as perjury, while serving under Clinton they should be asked to resign.

      One high ranking official who should be removed is FBI Director Louis Freeh. Last fall, there were rumors that he wanted to get a high-paying job in the private sector, but just before Christmas, Freeh said that he intended to serve out his ten-year term, which expires in 2003. USA Today reported on Jan. 4 that officials close to the situation said that Freeh had been asked to stay on the job in the new administration. The next day, the Washington Post reported that a Bush spokesman told reporters, “We never have been looking for an FBI director. Our nation has an FBI director.” The Post interpreted that as meaning that Bush wanted Freeh to stay.

      A well-placed source in the transition team said that this was one of many rumors about personnel decisions that had not yet been made. The Washington Times welcomed this, saying, “With the inestimable honor and integrity he brought to his job seven and a half years ago still completely intact, Mr. Freeh has cleanly emerged from an administration notable for its massive ethical?and in some cases, criminal? violations.”

      We beg to differ. Freeh was appointed in 1993 to succeed Judge William Sessions who was summarily fired and ordered to clear out of his office on July 19, 1993. Sessions claims that he was fired because he was resisting the efforts of the White House to increase its control over the FBI. White House distrust of the FBI could explain why the murder of Vincent Foster the next day was left to the U. S. Park Police. Sessions said that because of his dismissal the investigation “was compromised from the beginning.”

      The White House was looking for an FBI director who would be easier to control. Louis Freeh was only forty-three. He had been an FBI agent for six years, an assistant U.S. attorney for 10 years and a federal district judge for two. This was not an impressive resume for such an important job. When he was sworn in as director, Freeh vowed to “resist any effort from any source to impair the integrity of the FBI.” He vowed to hold agents “to the same standards to which I hold myself.”

      Early on, he tried to appoint a crony, Larry Potts, as deputy director of the FBI after Potts had been censured for his role in the Ruby Ridge siege that resulted in Randy Weaver’s wife being fatally shot. He tried to hire three young friends who failed polygraphs on drug use. He then lowered the bar and had them tested again. Two of them failed, and all three were rejected. His standards were not very high. It gets worse. We will have more in our next commentary.

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author