Perle resigns from Defense Policy Board. His resignation letter is here. "Despite heated disclaimers, my membership on the defense policy board has led many people to see my articles, books and television appearances to associate my views with those of the administration or the Department of Defense," Perle writes. "We are now approaching a long presidential election campaign, in the course of which issues on which I have strong views will be widely discussed and debated. I would not wish those views to be attributed to you or the President at any time, and especially not during a presidential campaign."

[For his part, Perle's lawyer says his resignation from the Defense advisory board will free up Perle to sue the news organizations that accused him of using his DPB position to help his business interests at Trireme and Autonomy Corp.] But resigning your position to go after your detractors seems an unusual move, if no wrongdoing was found.

Something else strange. Was talking with the Justice Department office today that holds files on those registered to lobby on behalf of foreign agents. And the registrar could not find Richard Perle's file. One that she knew to exist. It was genuinely odd.

Came across an interesting 1983 story on another controversy involving Perle:

New York Times
April 17, 1983
Aide Urged Pentagon to Consider Weapons Made by Former Client
By Jeff Gerth, Special to the New York Times
Washington, April 16

Richard N. Perle, an Assistant Secretary of Defense, recommended that the Army consider buying weapons from an Israeli company a year after he accepted a $50,000 consulting fee from the company's owners, according to Mr. Perle and an attorney for the weapons dealer.

Mr. Perle, the Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy, one of the most influential policy-makers in the Pentagon, acknowledged in interviews that he received the consulting fee the same month he entered the Government in 1981. He also acknowledged that in his official capacity he wrote a memorandum to the Secretary of the Army in 1982 urging evaluation of the Israeli company's weapons...

Mr. Perle, who worked on the Ronald Reagan transition team in late 1980, joined the Administration and accepted the $50,000 in March 1981.

He said that he had several other military consulting contracts in early 1981, including a $5,000 agreement with TRW, a major military contractor. The company's files show Mr. Perle signed a one-year agreement with TRW on April 1, 1981, eight days after he began work at the Pentagon. The company said it canceled the contract as of June 30, and on June 25 paid Mr. Perle the $5,000.

Mr. Perle said TRW's files were in error and the $5,000 fee was for work he did before entering the Government. Federal laws on conflicts of interest prohibit Government employees from acting in areas where they have a personal financial interest...

Mr. Perle's influence in the Reagan Administration far exceeds that normally held by an Assistant Secretary of Defense. In the transition, he was able to place associates in important national security positions and, in the Defense Department, he has played a major role in creating policies on arms control and trade with the Soviet Union.

After many years as a Senate aide specializing in military policy and matters involving Israel, Mr. Perle left the Government to become a consultant in 1980.

The Israeli arms dealers, Shlomo Zabludowicz and his son, Chaim Zabludowicz, became clients of Mr. Perle in 1980. They paid $90,000 to the Abington Corporation, a consulting company where Mr. Perle worked that was owned by John F. Lehman Jr., now the Secretary of the Navy [and indeed now in 2004 - a member of the independent 9/11 commission].

It was not until January 1982, nine months after Mr. Perle says the Zabludowiczes stopped being his clients, that he settled his financial arrangements with Mr. Lehman and Abington and received a portion of the $90,000 fee from 1980. The $50,000 Mr. Perle received in March 1981 was in addition to his share of the Abington fee...

Mr. Perle said the Zabludowicz account was the first he brought to Abington. The agreement called for a one-year contract at $10,000 a month to help the Zabludowiczes try to sell their mortars and ammunition to the Defense Department...

[Copyright, New York Times, 1983]

--Ancient history, right? But there seems to be a long-established, and very interesting, pattern here, that has basically been tolerated.

Posted by Laura at February 25, 2004 11:55 PM