Freeman "had an ever-expanding financial conflict of interest involving foreign powers," said Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois who along with nine other House members last week signed a letter calling for an immediate review of Freeman's ties to foreign governments. "They [the White House] appointed him without even having him fill out a financial disclosure form. All of this should have been looked at beforehand."

Despite this growing chorus of criticism, Blair had refused to back down and offered an aggressive endorsement of Freeman. "I am writing to underscore my full support for the appointment of Ambassador Charles Freeman as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council," he wrote Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican, in a letter last week. Blair's letter went on to defend in detail some of Freeman's private-sector activities, stating that Freeman had "never been a Capitol Hill lobbyist nor has he ever lobbied on behalf of any government or business (domestic or foreign). Ambassador Freeman has never received any income directly from Saudi Arabia or any Saudi-controlled entity."

Blair also noted that Freeman resigned from an advisory board of the Chinese National Offshore Oil Co. (a Chinese-government-owned entity) on Feb. 1 of this year. He said the board had met once a year and that Freeman had received a yearly fee of $10,000 for serving on it. He said that the board advised the Chinese firm on "management of political risk" but that Freeman was never asked to advise the Chinese company regarding its purchase of the U.S.-based UNOCAL oil company or dealings with Iran.

But Pelosi in particular was upset about public comments that seemed to belittle the Chinese human-rights movement—a cause she has championed for years. In 2005, for instance, Freeman was quoted as writing in a public e-mail about the Tiananmen Square massacre: "[T]he truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud … In this optic, the Politburo's response to the mob scene at 'Tian'anmen' stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.

"I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be," he added. "Such folk, whether they represent a veterans' 'Bonus Army' or a 'student uprising' on behalf of 'the goddess of democracy' should expect to be displaced with despatch [sic] from the ground they occupy."

© 2009