A spotlight on the consummate insider
When Richard Perle left the Reagan administration Pentagon, he turned to writing a Cold War novel whose title summed up his own zest for behind-the-curtains policy infighting: Hard Line . To this day, Perle, 62, remains very much the policy warrior--and a renowned Washington player in the intersecting worlds of foreign policy and international business. A complex figure, Perle castigates the French government for "appeasement" of Saddam Hussein yet maintains a Provence vacation home where he indulges a passion for French wine and food, especially souffles.
His public commentaries and private advice as chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board were influential in making the case to oust Saddam. Known by earlier foes as the "Prince of Darkness" for his attacks on arms control, he was newly dubbed "Darth Vader" by State Department denizens offended by his dual roles as government adviser and media opinionmeister.
Conrad Black, a like-minded conservative, was one of those impressed with Perle's pervasiveness and invited him to join Hollinger's board and audit committee. It was just one of at least a dozen corporate directorships for Perle, who was also consulting with various other firms, including some seeking government approvals. A Pentagon ethics probe cleared him of any impropriety from his multiple ties.
The special committee investigating Hollinger says that Perle, after becoming chairman and CEO of Hollinger Digital, participated in a plan that rewarded himself and other executives with up to 22 percent of the profits on successful ventures but no financial penalty if investments turned to losses. From 2000 to 2003, Perle reaped more than $3 million from the deal, on top of an annual salary as high as $300,000 and board fees.
"A lot of errors." Perle also sat on Hollinger's executive committee from 1996 to 2003, one of three executives responsible for approving some of Hollinger's most costly transactions and ones that the committee alleges put money straight into the pockets of Black and Hollinger chief operating officer David Radler. "It is difficult to imagine a more flagrant abdication of duty," the committee's report says.
Perle, in an interview with U.S. News Friday from France, branded the report as "exceedingly unfair" and containing "a lot of errors." Perle says he was unaware of the financial interest that Black and Radler had in some of the transactions he approved and did not personally profit from them. He says such issues should have--but did not--"come to me with a flag" and rejects the report's call for him to repay his compensation.
Despite his controversies, Perle's voice continues to be heard in Washington. "He has been able to make his views known whether he's on the [defense advisory] board or not," says Helmut Sonnenfeldt, a former Nixon-era foreign-policy official who sits on the Defense Policy Board. -Thomas Omestad
This story appears in the September 13, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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