The White House's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, is risking enormous potential conflicts of interest with The Wall Street Journal reporting this guy earned $700,000 from speaking fees and consulting since the beginning of last year. He was getting paid by the likes of loss-makers Merrill Lynch and Wachovia as well as the private equity firm Carlyle Group.
So where is the potential conflict of interest. Consider this: he received $60,000 from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping industry and which lobbies the US government regarding terrorism laws.
As the Los Angeles Times asks, will Panetta be the next body to fall under the bus, joining the likes of the man Obama had selected to lead the key health reform portfolio, the former US Senate leader Tom Daschle, and Nancy Killifer, who had been pegged to be White House performance officer. But then, maybe not, assuming Panetta pays taxes. Still, as the Los Angeles Times says, he received thousands of dollars from at least one security-related company that he might be dealing with as CIA director.
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