Freeman withdraws name from intel post

UPDATED:

Mounting bipartisan pressure led Charles “Chas” W. Freeman Jr. to withdraw Tuesday as head of the body that prepares U.S. intelligence estimates, as questions mounted over Mr. Freeman’s ties to Saudi Arabia and China.

The announcement came in a terse statement from Dennis C. Blair, director of national intelligence.

Mr. Blair “announced today that Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council does not proceed,” the statement read. “Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman’s decision with regret.”

Although the post does not require Senate confirmation, Mr. Freeman had been meeting with members of Congress to try to assuage their concerns about conflicts of interest.

RELATED ARTICLE: EDITORIAL: Freeman’s departure

The inspector general of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in response to congressional requests, had opened an investigation into whether Mr. Freeman’s former post as an adviser to the China National Offshore Oil Corp. and leadership of the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank, impinged on his ability to lead the National Intelligence Council and supervise the preparation of sensitive assessments.

Republicans went public with their opposition to the pick, and senior Democrats also expressed concern behind the scenes.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Tuesday that he was pleased that Mr. Freeman had withdrawn.

“Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position,” Mr. Schumer said. “His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.”

In 2006, Mr. Freeman appeared to blame U.S. policy toward Israel for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He told a group of Middle East policy analysts in Washington, “We have paid heavily and often in treasure in the past for our unflinching support and unstinting subsidies of Israel’s approach to managing its relations with the Arabs. Five years ago we began to pay with the blood of our citizens.”

The Washington Post’s Plum Line blog and the Weekly Standard reported last week that Mr. Schumer had called White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to complain about Mr. Freeman.

Others expressed regret that Mr. Freeman had stepped down from the post.

“This is a loss to the nation of a very talented analyst,” said Ronald E. Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria and Bahrain who was among a dozen former senior U.S. diplomats who sent a letter last week to the Wall Street Journal defending the choice.

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