Pittsburgh Post Gazette : Kissinger resigns 9/11 post

Kissinger resigns 9/11 post

By Dan Eggen | The Washington Post | December 14, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger abruptly resigned yesterday as head of a new commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks, complaining in a bitter letter to President Bush that concerns about conflicts of interest could "significantly" delay the panel's work.

The departure marked the second defection in three days from the high-profile panel, and ended two weeks of intense political infighting over whether Kissinger's controversial past and influential business contacts would sully the commission's eventual findings.

Kissinger had resisted calls from Senate Democrats that he publicly disclose his business clients in order to guard against any conflicts of interest.

The decision to quit was "a moment of disappointment for me," Kissinger wrote to Bush. "For over half a century, I have never refused to respond to the call from a president. Nor have I ever put my personal interests ahead of the country's interests."

He said that "in the end" he would have abided by whatever financial disclosure rules were applied to other members of the commission, but feared that "the controversy would quickly move to the consulting firm I have built and own."

"To liquidate Kissinger Associates cannot be accomplished without significantly delaying" the work of the commission, he wrote, referring to his New York-based company. "I have, therefore, concluded that I cannot accept the responsibility you proposed."

Just two days earlier, former Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine, had announced his own withdrawal as vice chairman of the commission, citing in part suggestions that he should sever ties to his law firm.

The 10-member, bipartisan commission, which will follow up on a joint House-Senate probe examining intelligence failures prior to Sept. 11, has yet to achieve a full slate of appointments and has been the focus of intense political infighting since it was created by Congress last month.

The withdrawal came as a surprising and disappointing setback for the White House, where officials had been convinced that Kissinger's name would bring credibility to an enterprise they had once resisted.

But the appointment had also prompted a steady stream of objections, including some from relatives of victims in the Sept. 11 attacks who questioned Kissinger's reliability and urged him to fully disclose his client list.

Kissinger met with 11 members of victims' families groups Thursday, telling them he did not believe that he had any conflicts of interest and promising to provide the families personally with details. But, according to several of the meeting's participants, he indicated that he did not intend to release the information publicly.

Stephen Push, a leader of Families of Sept. 11th, yesterday said he found "very puzzling" Kissinger's stated reason for resigning. "He told us that he had no conflicts, yet he's apparently resigning from an opportunity to serve his country so his clients can remain anonymous," Push said.

But another relative active in the follow-up investigations to Sept. 11, Kristen Breitweiser, said it was "admirable for him to acknowledge that he couldn't get around the conflict issue."

Kissinger called White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card yesterday afternoon to inform him of the decision, sources said. Bush said in a statement that he accepted Kissinger's resignation "with regret," and that "his chairmanship would have provided the insights and analysis the government needs to understand the methods of our enemies and the nature of the threats we face."

A senior aide said the administration hopes to find a replacement by Christmas, with a search to be conducted by Card, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Clay Johnson, the presidential personnel director.

Democrats have already named their five appointments to the panel, including former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton as vice chairman to replace Mitchell. Congressional Republicans have named only former Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington and have until tomorrow to appoint three more.

One senior White House official complained that the departures of both Mitchell and Kissinger show that onerous disclosure demands by Congress provide a "disincentive for good people to serve in government."

Kissinger's appointment, announced Nov. 27, was immediately attacked by some Democrats and liberal commentators, who argued that Kissinger's polarizing role in directing foreign policy during the Nixon and Ford years made him unfit to lead a panel aimed at unearthing unpleasant truths.

In the weeks that followed, debate on Capitol Hill shifted to whether Kissinger and other commission members should be required to publicly disclose their recent business contacts to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Some suggested that members should sever ties to their current businesses as well.

The fight came to a head this week, when the White House informed the Senate Select Committee on Ethics that administration lawyers concluded that Kissinger, as an unpaid presidential appointee, did not have to abide by congressional disclosure rules.

The Congressional Research Service issued a report last week concluding that all the panel's members, including Kissinger, would be required to identify clients who paid them more than $5,000 over the last two years.

Hamilton yesterday said "all five Democratic members support complete disclosure, and we will each comply fully" with congressional requirements for conflicts-of-interest disclosures.