Obama Intel Chief Has Troubling Foreign Ties

In yet another Obama Administration gaffe, the official chosen to chair the intelligence agency that gathers the nation’s most sensitive assessments has deep financial ties with countries hostile to the United States. 

A Washington newspaper reports that an independent inspector general is investigating the compromising foreign financial relationships of veteran U.S. diplomat Chas Freeman, picked by Obama to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC). 

The NIC gathers and assesses intelligence related to national security issues that help decide U.S. policy. The crucial information is provided to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and high-ranking government officials. The chairman has access to some of the country’s most closely guarded secrets and oversees the drafting of the consensus view of all 16 intelligence agencies. 

A former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and senior envoy to China, Freeman is on the international advisory board of a Chinese government-owned oil company (China National Offshore Oil Corp) that has invested heavily in countries—such as Iran and Sudan—at odds with the United States. 

Freeman is also president of a Middle Eastern educational group largely funded by a Saudi prince and he headed a “consulting” firm that works with foreign governments and companies. Lucrative income from these questionable relationships help explain why he has not yet submitted financial disclosure forms required of all candidates for senior public positions.

A Jewish news journal that calls Freeman a fierce critic of Israel, predicts he will provide the new administration with a distorted dose of intelligence that reflects his ardent pro Palestinian views. The publication includes various public speeches by Freeman to support the theory.