I just spoke to Rep. Mark Kirk, who along with Rep. Steve Israel has requested another investigation into Charles Freeman's finances -- this time focusing on his role as a member of the advisory board of the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC. Asked if Freeman's appointment will stand, Kirk replied "I hope not." He suggested that the White House should "suspend him pending a real review." Still, Kirk says he has "great faith" in the Inspector General to handle this matter promptly and appropriately. Most troubling, Kirk says, is the "lack of disclosure by Ambassador Freeman and the lack of review by the administration." Given that this is "one of the most important positions in the intelligence community," Kirk said he "would have expected a comprehensive review" by administration officials prior to making the appointment. Per Eli Lake's piece today in the Washington Times, we now know that the administration did no vetting at all of this pick, and worse was not even aware that it had been made until after Dennis Blair had offered Freeman the job. "They skipped all of those steps," Kirk says. Perhaps most troubling, the tax forms for Freeman's tax-exempt Middle East Policy Council were, according to Kirk, submitted to the IRS with a post-it note covering the names of his donors. This may be legal from a tax perspective, but it is deeply problematic given the slightly higher bar set for public officials -- and the fact that Freeman has still yet to file his financial disclosure forms, meaning no one has any idea who precisely was bankrolling his think-tank. Finally I asked Kirk if Freeman had paid his taxes -- a question that must unfortunately now be asked of any Obama appointee. Kirk said "we don't know," and they won't until Freeman files those disclosure forms. Elsewhere, Greg Sargent now reports that Senator Kit Bond, the ranking member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, will meet with Freeman tomorrow. Bond has not yet made any statement on Freeman's appointment, but if he comes out forcefully against it -- and all evidence indicates that this is a fight Republicans are eager to have with the White House -- it may make the cost of keeping Freeman too great for the Obama administration. The new letter to the Inspector General, who has already started an investigation into Freeman's ties to the Saudis:
Dear Mr. Maguire: In addition to the concerns we have with Ambassador Freeman which we have already communicated to you, we would ask you to pay particular attention to the following issue: soon the National Intelligence Council (NIC) will be tasked to produce National Intelligence Estimates on the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China. Ambassador Freeman served on the Board of Directors of the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), which is owned by the People's Republic of China. As you may know, CNOOC also has significant business dealings with Iran. In fact, in 2007, CNOOC signed a $16 billion agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran to develop Iran's North Pars gas field. CNOOC's investment in Iran's energy sector constitutes a possible violation of U.S. law. In addition, CNOOC's investment in Iran's energy sector deliberately undermines the foreign policy objectives of the United States, Europe and the United Nations Security Council. Ambassador Freeman's service on the Board of Directors of a company owned by a foreign government seems to constitute an obvious conflict of interest -- especially given his service to a company owned by the People's Republic of China with significant investment in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your attention to whether Ambassador Freeman is an inappropriate candidate to participate in this independent review would be appreciated.