Goss Hailed as Old Pro, Assailed as Partisan

[Rose Siding]

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Goss and his staff declined to be interviewed in the lead-up to his hearings. Although recently Goss has stepped up criticism of the agency, in 2002 he told a Washington Post reporter he would not use the word "failure" to describe the intelligence lapses before Sept. 11. "I don't like to see the left-wingers splattering mud on an agency that's done some very fine work. It demoralizes people taking the risk," he said.
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The Family Steering Committee, representing relatives of Sept. 11 victims, also has opposed Goss's nomination. "Do we want someone who failed in oversight capacities to lead the intelligence community?" said Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband worked on the 94th floor of the World Trade Center. "I don't see the point in promoting people who fail at their jobs."

Breitweiser said that when the victims' families met with Goss to advocate an independent commission to investigate the attacks, he was not supportive. Four steering committee members said that when they made the rounds on Capitol Hill, Goss's staff turned them away, saying that he wasn't there. Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband, Alan, worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center, recalled pushing into Goss's office, only to find the congressman hiding: "They said he wasn't there -- and he was right behind the door." Goss's spokeswoman did not return repeated calls for comment.
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"The CIA needs a leader, and Porter will be that strong leader," Nelson said, adding after a beat, "Until John Kerry is elected. Then I expect the CIA director to be Bob Graham."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16902-2004Sep12_3.html