-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- February 12, 2000 Ex-C.I.A. Chief, During Inquiry, Helped an Aide By JAMES RISEN ASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- John M. Deutch, a former director of central intelligence, recommended a top C.I.A. official for a management job at Citibank even as she was monitoring an internal investigation into evidence that he had mishandled classified information, acc ording to agency records and interviews with officials. Mr. Deutch resigned as director in December 1996 and was almost immediately elected to the Citibank board. That same month, C.I.A. computer security officials uncovered evidence that he had placed large amounts of classified information on unsecure computers at his home. Nora Slatkin, the former executive director of the C.I.A., notified the agency that she was considering a position at Citibank while she was still monitoring the Deutch case inside the agency, records of the agency show. A classified review by the agency's inspector general of the handling of that case found that actions by Ms. Slatkin "had the effect of delaying a prompt and thorough investigation of this matter." Ms. Slatkin resigned from the agency in September 1997 and joined Citibank as a vice president the next month. Earlier, on June 27, she had officially notified the agency that she was withdrawing from consideration of any matters involving Citibank because she was thinking about taking a job with the bank, according to agency records. Yet within a month she reviewed a secret report from C.I.A. security officials on their findings in the Deutch investigation, according to the classified report from the agency's inspector general. The C.I.A. declined to comment today on any aspect of the investigation. A special panel reviewing the handling of the Deutch matter by agency officials has just completed its report, but its findings have not been publicly released. A Citibank spokesman, speaking for Ms. Slatkin, emphasized that the C.I.A.'s internal investigation into the Deutch case was over weeks before her conversations began with the bank. Although security officials were still writing up their report on the matter at the time, Ms. Slatkin was not involved in its drafting, the spokesman said. Ms. Slatkin added in a statement that she had excused herself from taking part in the Deutch investigation and that her only role was to keep information flowing in the case. The Citibank spokesman said Ms. Slatkin was referred to Citibank by Mr. Deutch as she was considering where to move after leaving the agency. Mr. Deutch encouraged her to go to Citibank after Ms. Slatkin told him she was considering a different job at Chase Manhattan Bank, the Citibank spokesman said. "Nora was seriously considering a job at Chase," the Citibank spokesman said. "When Deutch heard about that, he introduced her to Citibank. She went through the normal interview process, and everyone was quite impressed, and ultimately she was hired." There is no evidence that Ms. Slatkin's hiring at Citibank was a quid pro quo for actions she took in the Deutch investigation while at the agency. A Citibank spokesman described Ms. Slatkin as a "star," adding that Citibank officials felt fortunate that she had accepted their job offer. Yet her move to Citibank further underscores the close ties that existed between Mr. Deutch and the senior agency officials who played crucial roles in the agency's long-stalled inquiry in Mr. Deutch's case. Critics of how the matter was handled have contended that top officials of the agency were too close to have conducted an aggressive investigation. The inspector general's report also cited the current director, George J. Tenet, who was Mr. Deutch's deputy before succeeding him, as failing to do more to "forcefully ensure" that the case was properly investigated. Mr. Tenet would not comment on the Citbank matter. Ms. Slatkin, who is still at Citibank and has risen to program manager for Citigroup business services, served as the agency's third-ranking official during Mr. Deutch's tenure as director, and had previously worked with Mr. Deutch at the Pentagon. The agency's investigation of Mr. Deutch began in December 1996, just as he was leaving the C.I.A. After computer security officials at the agency discovered classified material on unclassified, C.I.A.-issued computers in Mr. Deutch's home, they investigated to determine whether he had violated agency regulations and federal laws. Within weeks of their discovery, some C.I.A. security officers came to believe that senior officials at the agency, seeking to protect Mr. Deutch, were blocking efforts to conduct a thorough inquiry. Michael O'Neill, who was then general counsel of the agency, quickly told the F.B.I.'s general counsel, Howard Shapiro, that classified material had been found on Mr. Deutch's computers. But for more than a year after the discovery C.I.A. officials did not formally notify the Justice Department that Mr. Deutch might have broken the law. The Deutch case was effectively dead until a C.I.A. employee notified the inspector general's office in early 1998 that the inquiry had not been handled properly. The C.I.A.'s inspector general opened his own investigation in early 1998 and the Justice Department was then notified about the Deutch matter, according to the report. Last April, Attorney General Janet Reno decided not to prosecute Mr. Deutch. Ms. Slatkin acknowledges that her close ties to Mr. Deutch posed a serious problem for her in trying to deal with the agency's internal investigation. In 1995, when Mr. Deutch moved to the C.I.A., he named her executive director, where he gave her broad authority to supervise a wide range of operations at the agency. Ms. Slatkin says she talked to Mr. Tenet almost immediately after the investigation began about her role. "I thought I should recuse myself, and I discussed it with George, and we agreed I would have no role in the investigation other than facilitating the flow of information," Ms. Slatkin said in a statement. Ms. Slatkin's lawyer in Washington, Mark Tuohey, also emphasizes that his client was not running the internal investigation at the agency, but instead left that to its professional staff. The inspector general's report quotes Ms. Slatkin as saying she explained to Mr. Tenet that she believed the matter was too sensitive for her to handle, and that Mr. Tenet "had the responsibility for making the decisions relating to the Deutch incident." Still, she played a major role in the case, other C.I.A. officials later told the inspector general. In fact, the inspector general's report quotes Ms. Slatkin as saying that Mr. Tenet "gave her the responsibility for coordinating" the case. By January 1997, security officials had determined that the most critical evidence in the case was on four portable computer cards that contained files from Mr. Deutch's computers. But when they looked for them, they were informed that Mr. O'Neill, the agency's general counsel, had obtained the cards and was keeping them in his office safe. Mr. O'Neill then began to rebuff requests to turn the four cards over to the security staff, according to the inspector general's report. Richard Calder, the agency's deputy director for administration, who oversees the security staff, stepped in, and talked with Mr. O'Neill about the cards. Mr. Calder said he wanted Mr. O'Neill to turn the cards over to the security staff, but Mr. O'Neill wanted to keep them, the report said. A security official then complained to Ms. Slatkin that Mr. O'Neill "was dragging his feet," and that his refusal to turn the cards over to the security office "made it look like a cover-up." Eventually, Ms. Slatkin reached an agreement with Mr. Calder in which one security officer would be allowed to review all the computer files gathered from Mr. Deutch's home. The four portable computer cards were finally turned over after Mr. Tenet directed Mr. O'Neill to do so, but only after they had been held by Mr. O'Neill for about three weeks, the report said. In the inspector general's report, Mr. Calder is quoted as saying discussions on the Deutch inquiry with Ms. Slatkin "were always difficult." Later, as Mr. Tenet began to establish his own C.I.A. management team, Ms. Slatkin started looking for a new job. But after notifying the agency that she was in talks with Citibank on June 27, she remained as C.I.A. executive director until July 21, and continued to monitor the Deutch case. The security office's report on the case, dated July 8, was sent to Mr. Calder, who then sent it to Ms. Slatkin. Mr. Calder later told the inspector general that he recalled receiving the report back from Ms. Slatkin with "marginal comments, possibly asking if [the computer memory cards] had been destroyed," the inspector general's report states. Ms. Slatkin recalled receiving a draft of the report from Mr. Calder, making comments requesting clarification, and then returning it either to Mr. Calder or Jay Castillo, the security official who had been allowed to review the four cards. According to the inspector general's report, the copy of the report with Ms. Slatkin's marginal notations could not be found. The four cards were never destroyed by the C.I.A. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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