Washington Whispers
New CIA Take: Was Goss Inept or Sabotaged?
The story is etched in Washington political history: After George Tenet, the internally popular and second-longest-serving CIA director ever, quit his post in 2004, his replacement, former Rep. Porter Goss, practically destroyed Langley with his partisan bumbling. Two years into the job, he was dumped for failing to reform the agency. But a new book provided to Whispers offers an alternate version of history. Republican Goss, who arrived with blunt and public plans to shake up the troubled agency, was sabotaged by an odd combination: a largely liberal in-house cabal that discredited him to the Washington press corps, while John Negroponte, the nation's first national intelligence director, staged a power grab by undermining his former Yale frat brother.
In Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA, Rowan Scarborough, a veteran national security reporter at the Washington Examiner, provides what is bound to be a controversial view of the nation's spy agency. He reports that CIA leakers painted Goss's team as green partisans, eventually prompting the new director and his aides to whisper, fearful they were being spied on. It got worse: Scarborough pens that Negroponte raided the CIA to staff his own counterterrorism group. After his ouster, Goss told friends, "Negroponte stabbed me in the back."
Hollywood Cash No Cinch for Thompson
He's not even in the race officially, but former Sen. Fred Thompson is scoring well in California's presidential sweepstakes. His poll numbers there lag behind only Rudy Giuliani's, several state legislators are raring to help when he gives the green light, and let's face it: California likes actors turned politicians. But campaign insiders are downplaying Thompson's (aka Arthur Branch from Law & Order) celebrity fundraising draw. "Hollywood is still Hollywood. They tend to mostly be on the left," says pal Ken Khachigian. "While there will be a lot of personal friends, I don't see it as a bonanza or a mother lode for this campaign."
SEC's Cheer Squad: Bubba and Carville
Bill Clinton is not only spanning the world to campaign for AIDS relief and hitting the stump for Hillary. Now he'll be popping up in front of sports junkies. The Southeastern Conference, home to Bubba's favorite team, the University of Arkansas Razorbacks (he went to Georgetown and Yale, but some ties run deeper), is kicking off a 75th-anniversary bash later this month. Over the next year, the SEC will run spots on CBS and ESPN celebrating a student-athlete at each of the 12 conference colleges. The Arkansas tale will be narrated by the former president. Chipping in for his own alma mater, Louisiana State University, will be Clinton's pal James Carville. There are a few open slots. Any GOP takers?
Survivor: Kabul Embassy Style
Think a Foreign Service posting in Iraq sounds tough? Try Afghanistan. The cabin fever at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul apparently is so bad that one official compares it with the TV show Survivor: "Everyone there is on edge, tired of seeing the same people." A few dozen U.S. staffers are restricted to two small compounds, connected by a tunnel. Baghdad may be more treacherous, but the problem in Kabul is that U.S. diplomats are allowed out only with full security escorts. Troubling when you consider most of those escort teams have been sent to Iraq. One recent visitor met a U.S. diplomat who hadn't left the embassy in over six months.
Brothers in Arms Over Iraq?
Democratic Reps. Jack Murtha and David Obey are two gruff veteran appropriators. Murtha oversees defense dollars, and Obey, all spending. Over the years, the old bulls have clashed. But lately, they have found a common enemy: Bush's Iraq policy. And it seems the Obey-Murtha relationship has seen a bit of a détente. "Murtha and I worked more closely than we have in our entire careers in the House," Obey writes in his upcoming memoirs about their work together on a war spending bill this past spring.
A Case of Hope in Presidential Politics
Politics doesn't have to be mean, says GOP prez hopeful Mike Huckabee. Take the friendly voice mail he received from Hillary Clintonabout the touchy subject of religion and politics. In a recent magazine article, Huckabee had said that although he goes to a very expressive church (Baptist), it doesn't mean that those like Clinton who attend a more formal and liturgical church (United Methodist) are less genuine. One memorable thing Hillary Clinton said in the message: "I do have a soft spot for boys from Hope." Like her spouse, Huckabee was born in Hope, Ark.
Incoming: Veterans' Oral Histories
The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress is getting a big boost from its partnership with PBS and filmmaker Ken Burns, whose 14-hour documentary The War airs in September. The project has 50,000 stories on hand, collected by Boy Scouts, school groups, and a range of volunteers. Visiting Angels, a living-assistance company, for example, decided in May to tape some of its clients. The company has 26 oral histories from veterans in its care and an additional 50 in the works. The goal: 300 by year's end.
Hook, Line, Sinker With Your Fave Pol
August is downtime in the capital. But we hear political fundraising trips to pols' home states are a hot ticket. Republicans have a few slated. Try fly-fishing in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with Sen. Mike Enzi during his "A Day in the Tetons" event for a cool $2,500 a head. Or for $3,000 in political action committee bucks, head to Sen. Bob Bennett's annual "Flies & Drives" event in Park City, Utah. Democratic? Sen. Max Baucus hosts "Camp Baucus" in Big Sky, Mont., for a $5,000 PAC check.
The latest Whispers are at www.usnews.com/whispers
With Paul Bedard, Suzi Parker and Kevin Whitelaw
This story appears in the July 23, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.