Richard Perle: It Pays To Be the Prince of Darkness
By Frida Berrigan | Mar 21, 03
Richard Perle is a busy guy
these days, what with his
long-desired war against
Iraq in full swing, plus a
lucrative consulting
business on the side. As
the chairman of the
Defense Policy Board, Perle
is a close adviser to
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with an insider's
perspective on the Pentagon, the war in Iraq and the ongoing
war on terrorism.
As a major investor in a number of defense
companies, he stands to reap considerable benefits from war
and homeland security contracts. Apparently his dual roles
as a major policy adviser to the Pentagon and a business
dealmaker can be a bit confusing at times.
A few weeks ago, Perle was hired by Global Crossing, the
bankrupt telecommunications giant that is trying to sell
itself to a Chinese consortium. The Pentagon and FBI are
against the sale because it would put the company's fiber
optics network, which is used by the U.S. government, in
Chinese hands. Perle's job is to change their minds. And if
anyone can, it is the "Prince of Darkness," as Perle is known
by friend and foe in Washington.
As he said in an affidavit dated March 7, his position as
chairman of the Defense Policy Board gives him a "unique
perspective on and intimate knowledge of the national
defense and security issues that will be raised by the CFIUS
review process." The CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States, has the power to block the
deal. Global Crossing is paying Perle $750,000 for this
"unique perspective" and "intimate knowledge." Perle's
incentive: $600,000 of his fee is contingent on government
approval of the deal.
But this little phrase led to a funny exchange with New York
Times reporter Stephen Labaton.
Perle insisted, "I'm not
using public office for private gain, because the Defense
Policy Board has nothing to do with the CFIUS process." But
when asked about his "unique perspective" and "intimate
knowledge," Perle claimed he had not noticed that phrase,
saying it "was drafted by lawyers, and frankly I did not notice
it." He is a busy man, we understand.
But then, he called Labaton back to clarify, saying that the
problematic phrase was in an earlier draft, he had noticed it
and crossed it out. "You have a draft that I never signed," he
said. OK?
After consulting with Global Crossing's lawyers, Perle called
Labaton again to say that he had told the lawyers to strike
the phrase because it "seemed inappropriate and irrelevant."
But then someone put the phrase back in, and Perle signed
it without noticing. "It is a clerical error," he explained, "and
not my clerical error." When in doubt, blame the lawyers.
So the final version will be submitted without referring to
Perle's "unique perspective" and "intimate knowledge." But
that doesn't mean those are not what Global Crossing is
paying him for.
-----------------------
This is not the first time someone has questioned Perle's
ethics. Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh, writing in the
March 17 issue of The New Yorker, cited possible "conflicts of
interest" in Trireme Partners, Perle's venture capital
company. The company, which invests in companies dealing
in homeland security and defense products, has raised $45
million in capital so far-almost half of that coming from U.S.
defense giant Boeing. When asked about the article in a TV
interview, Perle declared that "Sy Hersh is the closest thing
American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly."
There is also the matter of Autonomy Corporation, where
Perle is a director, with 75,000 shares of stock. The firm has
developed a high-tech eavesdropping software that is capable
of monitoring hundreds of thousands of e-mail and phone
conversations at the same time. In October 2002, the
Department of Homeland Security granted the company a
huge contract. A few months later, Autonomy was granted $1
million in contracts from a number of government agencies,
including the Secret Service and National Security Agency.
As a former Clinton adviser observed with admiration, Perle
"enjoys all the benefits of being an insider without any of the
constraints."
Frida Berrigan is a senior research associate with the Arms
Trade Resource Center, a project of the World Policy
Institute. |
