XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUNDAY MAY 6, 2001 15:09:34 ET XXXXX

MAG: FREEH DEPUTIES CALLED CLINTON A 'CROOK' NO BETTER THAN 'BANK ROBBER'; FBI DEBATED BRIEFING WHITE HOUSE

The FBI Director 's relationship with the Clinton White House deteriorated so bad in its waning years that Director Louis Freeh decided to wait for a new Administration to conclude the bureau's investigation of Iranian government officials linked to a 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia which killed nineteen Americans and injured five hundred.

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By the end of the Clinton era, Freeh had become "so mistrustful of Clinton that, although he believed that he had developed enough evidence to seek indictment against the masterminds behind the attack, not just the front-line suspects, he decided to wait for a new Administration," the NEW YORKER is planning to report on Monday.

According to publishing sources, reporter Elsa Walsh has developed a story slugged: LOUIS FREEH'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS, exploring the estrangement between Freeh and Clinton.

The FBI's investigation into Clinton-Gore fund-raising activities and the role of the Chinese government led to a series of disputes. At one point, during a late-night phone call between Freeh and deputies William Esposito and Robert Bryant, about whether to brief Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (and thus potentially Clinton) before a trip to China, Bryant said, "Why should we brief him? He's a crook. He's no better than a bank robber. Would we tell a bank robber about our investigation?"

Freeh is said to have replied that that was going a little too far.

Hitting racks on Monday.

Developing...

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

Answers

PageSix.com
NYPost

FBI CHIEF HAD 4-YEAR SILENT FEUD WITH BILL

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

Relations between FBI Director Louis Freeh and President Bill Clinton were so strained, the two didn't talk for four years, it was reported today.

There were numerous sources of tension between the White House and the bureau - including the FBI's funny-money probe into contributions to the presidential campaign.

But the one that may have mattered most to Freeh stemmed from disagreements over the investigation of the 1996 terrorist bombing of a U.S. military barracks in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and left 500 injured.

The New Yorker magazine reported today that Freeh didn't trust the Clinton administration's commitment to pursue the case - and he waited until George W. Bush took office to give a full report to the White House detailing allegations that the bombing was plotted by Iranian government officials.

The magazine said Freeh believed Clinton and his advisers weren't supporting him in seeking the full cooperation of Saudi authorities.

As tensions increased between Freeh and the White House, the FBI head and Clinton went four years without speaking to one another, the magazine reported - although Freeh spoke with top Clinton aides.

The presidential silent treatment ended last year shortly after the terror bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

Freeh, who will leave his post in June, believed Clinton put the barracks-bombing probe on the back burner in hopes of seeking a diplomatic breakthrough with moderate elements in Iran.

At one point, Freeh secretly enlisted former President George Bush to seek cooperation from the Saudis, the magazine said.

Finally, FBI agents got access to witnesses and evidence alleging Iranian Gen. Ahmad Sherifi ordered the bombing, possibly at the behest of the nation's leader at the time, Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

The Bush administration could decide within the next two months whether it will seek indictments in the case, The New Yorker said.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

FOX

FBI Director Shares Evidence With Bush on 1996 Bombing Attack

NEW YORK — FBI Director Louis Freeh has given the Bush administration a list of people he believes the United States should indict in the 1996 bombing that killed 19 American servicemen in Saudi Arabia, according to a published report.

Freeh, who announced last week that he will retire in June, recently briefed President Bush on case, The New Yorker reports, and told the magazine that the it is "the only unfinished piece of business that I have."

The U.S. airmen were killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the Khobar Towers, their military housing complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Iran initially was believed to have been involved. Saudi Arabia has yet to disclose its findings in an investigation carried out jointly with the FBI.

The report said any indictments are likely to name Iranian government officials.

The president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said Sunday that she could not comment on "legal and judicial matters that are under review at the Justice Department."

Rice did say on ABC's This Week that "right now, Iran is one of the most active countries in terrorism, for instance, in the Middle East. ... Iran has not renounced terrorism. In fact, it promotes it around the world."

Freeh, who was appointed by President Clinton, sought help from the first President Bush because the FBI director believed the Clinton administration feared risking its Middle East policy by pressing the case too hard, the magazine reported.

Bush, who waged the Gulf War, apparently did intercede with the Saudi royal family to seek greater cooperation from the Saudi government, but it's not known to what extent.

"I don't want to get into details of that," Freeh told The New Yorker.

FBI agents eventually were able to watch and listen as Saudi authorities posed 212 questions from the FBI to eight suspects.

Sandy Berger, Clinton's national security adviser, was quoted as saying, "In every way we were asked to do and ways we were not asked to do we pressed the Saudis. Does that mean we weren't trying to make some outreach to Iran? No. There are two governments in Iran, and our fundamental policy was to try to support and strengthen the reformists ... so there would be no more Khobars."

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

I recall that Presidents don't get much cooperation from the professional military because Presidents are looked at as unprofessional, temporary interlopers. So they are only told the minimum.

I don't recall when during Clinton's administration that Freeh was appointed. Did Ruby Ridge, Waco, OKC and Elian all happen on his watch? Can't help thinking that some of the bad blood is simply Freeh resenting Clinton as a less professional thug than himself. Can't let those amateurs get an upperhand, afterall.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

Only difference between Clinton and Trafficant is that Trafficant was an honest poolitician (stayed bought and kept his promises) and Trafficant never thought big enough.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001