July 11-12:Kennebunkport On July 11, Bus. He was asked about senate hearings on his nomination of Robeh received a visit from Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu atrt Gates to be head (^)
of the CIA. (With anything but a rubberstamp Congress, the Gates nomination would have had to
be seen as a gratuitous provocation. Gates had been up to his neck in Iran-contra and the coverup
thereof, and had withdrawn during a previous attempt to occupy the same office. Now Bush was
stirring up the Iran-contra affair once again. Washington rumor had it that Bush's first choice for thepost had been Don Gregg, and that Bush's handlers had exahusted their energies in persuading Bush (^)
to renounce this even bigger provocation. When Bush had been forced to drop Gregg, he had
insisted on Gates. Obsessions and hyperthyroidism had been at work in all this. Now Bush was
asked about Gates: was his story credible that he knew nothing of illegal funds transfer when those
above and below him in the chain of command knew all about it? Bush's first comment wasmoderate in tone:
Doesn't stretch my credibility because I believe firmly in Bob Gates's word. And he's a man of total
honor, and he should be confirmed as Director of Central Intelligence. And when you have behind-
doors, closed-door afairness element comes in on that one, Jim. llegations that nobody really knows anything about, I'm not sure where the
The next day, July 12, Bush engaged in a question and answer session with reporters. Bush was
dressed in sporting togs, but today he was out of control. His first impulse was to escape from the
reporters:
Hey, listen. I've got to go now. Heavy recreation coming up before we go abroad, so I've got to keep
going.
He fought off some questions about Clarence Thomas allegedly smoking marijuana, commentingthat this was not disqualifying. Then, there was a mention of Gates:
Q: Has Gates told you about-
That touched Bush's obsession of the day. Gates had been accused of complicity in Iran-contra gun-running and drug running; but Bush himself had once again come under attack for his role in the
October surprise conspiracy to delay the release of US hostages held in Teheran. Several days
before, the former director of Central American affairs for the CIA, Alan Fiers, had admitted lying
to Congress. Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh was continuing his investigation, and it was now
clear that the Senate would not vote on the Gates nomination until the autumn. At this point Bushbroke in, and with a contorted face launched into an interminable enraged monologue, angrily
brushing aside interruptions. The passages are worth reproducing here in detail because of the
insight they afford into the workings of a tormented mind:
Bush: Let me say something on the Gates matter. What are we coming to here? You're talking tosomebody who had to prove his innocence --me--on the basis of rumor. It was alleged by people
that we weren't sure who they were, that I was in Paris at some deal to keep Americans in captivity.
That's what the allegation was against me. And I'm saying to myself, who's making these
allegations? What's the evidence? What have we come to where a man has to prove his innocence
against some fluid, movable charge?
And now I'm thinking about Bob Gates. And I'm saying: What is this all about? Isn't the people that
might be accusing him of something --shouldn't it be their responsibility under the American system
of fairplay? I have full confidence in him. But what is this system where we hear some leak in some
newspaper that behind closed doors somebody has said something, and thus a lot of people run for
frankie
(Frankie)
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