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Kissinger will be required to list clients
By Edward Alden in Washington
Published: December 4 2002 21:59 | Last Updated: December 5 2002 0:05
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Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state, and other members of an inquiry commission
into the September 11 attacks will be required to disclose publicly their consulting
clients,
according to a legal opinion from the Congressional Research Service, the research arm
of
Congress.
The opinion, presented on Wednesday night to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
headed by Senator Joseph Lieberman, says that government ethics rules would require Mr
Kissinger to disclose any client who, over the past two years, had paid him more than
$5,000 for consulting work.
The White House decision last week to appoint Mr Kissinger to chair the 10-man inquiry
has
touched off fears among the families of the September 11 victims - which were
instrumental in pushing the White House to agree to the commission - that his close
ties to
foreign and domestic corporate clients may hinder his willingness to lead an aggressive
investigation. The 18-month inquiry is supposed to examine broadly why the US
government was unable to prevent the attacks.
Mr Kissinger's company, Kissinger Associates, is one of Washington's most powerful
lobbying firms, trading on Mr Kissinger's reputation and access to the top people in
government. The firm has long refused to reveal its clients, who are thought to be
mostly
large domestic and foreign companies.
The White House has said the job as inquiry chairman would be a part-time post, which
would therefore not require Mr Kissinger to disclose publicly his clients or suspend
his
consulting work.
But the CRS opinion, which was requested by Democratic staff of the committee who
worked on the legislation establishing the commission, interprets that exception very
narrowly. It says that any commissioner who works more than 60 days a year on the
inquiry would be required to make a full financial disclosure of all assets, income and
liabilities, as well as listing their clients over the past two years. The disclosures
would then
be made public.
In addition, the CRS opinion says that the US constitution prohibits any commissioner
from
receiving payments from a foreign government, including state-owned companies, while
serving on the commission.
Stephen Push, who heads the group Families of September 11, told the FT that the
families
would also push for full, public disclosure in a meeting with Mr Kissinger next week.
"If the
law says he needs to disclose publicly, that's the standard we're going to hold him
to."
Mr Kissinger was travelling on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. He told
CNN at the weekend that he would not publicly disclose his clients but would discuss
those
clients fully with the White House counsel and appropriate ethics groups. He also said
he
had no Saudi clients and did not represent any Middle East governments. He called
"outrageous" any suggestions that his commercial interests would compromise his
independence.
The tussle over Mr Kissinger's client base is the latest spat between the families and
the
White House, which had long resisted forming a commission to investigate why the US
failed to head off the September 11 attacks.
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