Free Republic

June 4, 2004 -- WASHINGTON — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) has emerged as a leading candidate to head the CIA — but some insiders are also talking up former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. President Bush appointed George Tenet's deputy, John McLaughlin, as the CIA's interim director yesterday, and officials said the president may wait until after the elections to select a new chief. Officials said Bush may delay naming a new CIA head because there are a series of investigations and reviews of the CIA's failures now under way in Congress that are likely to result in...

The announcement that CIA Director George Tenet had decided to spend more time with his family was received with mixed emotions in Washington.  For some, it simply evoked the cynicism that usually greets such claims, feeding rumors that he was actually fired and arousing intense speculation about which of the myriad intelligence acts of omission or commission on his watch prompted this step.For others, the departure is seen as a transparent - if welcome - effort to designate Tenet as the chosen scapegoat for various recent intelligence failures. Within this group, there will be those who hope it is the...