Someone made Freeh an offer he couldn't refuse!
Just wait... he will announce that he is assuming control of a company which will pay him a salary in the millions. I wonder if it will be one of the ones that Buzzy Krongard started???
Freeh needs money to put his kids through college...
Hanssen's story of needing money for his kids hit too close to home.
Remember who Freeh replaced and how his successor was removed from office at gun point... and immediately afterwards an attempt was made to kill him. The "beam weapon" missed his head because Bill tripped on the curb... as a result, the weapon hit his shouldar and blew it out! The media was following with a camera trained on him. It caught the entire thing... if someone had a copy of that tape, it could be analyzed and the trail of the weapon WILL show up!
I wonder who G.W. will appoint as FBI Director? Maybe Jeff Sessions?
When Freeh goes, so too will OPUS DEI...
Q solo
Tuesday May 1 3:53 PM ET
FBI Director Freeh to Retire in June
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI (news - web sites) Director Louis Freeh, whose clashes with the White House led to an often tense relationship with then-President Bill Clinton, said on Tuesday he would step down next month.
Freeh, whose tenure has been marked by controversies that ranged from the 1996 Olympics bombing probe to the arrest of an FBI agent on charges of spying for Moscow, said in a statement he would retire in June after a 27-year government career.
President Bush had asked Freeh, a former FBI agent, federal prosecutor and federal judge in New York City, to remain as FBI chief. Freeh's 10-year term as FBI director would have expired on Sept. 1 2003.
Bush, who will name Freeh's successor, said in a statement that regretted Freeh's departure. ``We will miss him.''
The 51-year-old director did not say where he would go, but Freeh -- who has six sons ages 3 to 16 -- has expressed an interest in getting a higher-paying job outside of government.
Freeh clashed with Clinton's White House on various issues, including the transfer of hundreds of FBI files after Clinton took office in 1993, and unsuccessfully urging an independent investigation of alleged campaign finance irregularities involving the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election effort.
He angered the White House by praising former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who investigated Clinton over the Whitewater land deal in Arkansas and the Monica Lewinsky sex-and-perjury scandal that led to Clinton's impeachment and then acquittal by the Senate.
Terse Thanks To Clinton
In his statement, Freeh pointedly said Bush had brought ''great honor and integrity'' to the Oval Office.''
Freeh cited Bush's ``leadership and commitment'' to protecting the United States, said he had been proud to be part of Bush's first 100 days in office and added that he was grateful for Bush's ``unwavering support of me and the FBI.''
In contrast, Freeh gave only terse thanks to Clinton for the ``honor and privilege of allowing me to serve the American people'' as FBI director.
At Freeh's swearing-in ceremony, Clinton lavishly praised him as a ``genuine law enforcement legend.'' But White House officials later became upset over Freeh's close ties to some Republicans in Congress.
In February, Freeh was forced to announce that one of the FBI's own agents, Robert Hanssen, who was supposed to be catching Russian spies, had been arrested on charges of passing secrets to Moscow over the last 15 years.
Freeh was criticized for the FBI's heavy-handed tactics used against former government nuclear weapons scientist Wen Ho Lee (news - web sites) before the espionage case against him collapsed.
During his tenure, questions also were raised about news leaks naming Richard Jewell as a suspect in the 1996 bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta, the mishandling of evidence at the FBI crime laboratory and why it took the FBI six years to admit it used incendiary devices at the deadly, disastrous 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Washington Lauds Director
Freeh did not mention the controversies in his statement.
Among the accomplishments he cited were his travels to 68 countries, an increase in minorities and women as FBI agents and keeping the FBI free of political interference.
A senior White House official said Freeh went to the White House on Monday and met White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Bush to inform them of his decision.
Attorney General John Ashcroft -- Freeh's boss -- issued a statement calling Freeh ``a model law enforcement officer'' and adding, ``His legacy of uncompromising integrity will endure throughout the FBI's ranks.''
Freeh said he has not engaged in negotiations about any future employment and had not requested others to do so on his behalf while serving as FBI director.
Freeh, who plans to leave at the end of the school year, said he looked forward to ``spending the summer with my family and engaging in new challenges.''
Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, saluted Freeh and said he was surprised by his decision to step down.
``This has not been an easy job. He has had, of course, a number of controversies. But unlike many of his predecessors he admitted his mistakes or the bureau's mistakes,'' Leahy said.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton shook her head to signify no when asked if she had a comment about the resignation.
