Word from veteran intelligence officers: Gates is dirty.

November 9, 2006 -- How many Democratic senators who voted against the confirmation of Robert Gates to be CIA director in 1991 will vote against him to be Defense Secretary?

The following current Senate Democratic senators voted against the confirmation of Robert Gates as CIA director on November 5, 1991: Max Baucus (MT), Joe Biden (DE), Jeff Bingaman (NM), Kent Conrad (ND), Chris Dodd (CT), Tom Harkin (IA), Ted Kennedy (MA), John Kerry (MA), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Carl Levin (MI), and Jay Rockefeller (WV).

Current Democratic incumbents who voted to confirm Gates included Dan Akaka (HI), Bob Byrd (WV), Dan Inouye (HI), Herb Kohl (WI), Pat Leahy (VT), Joe Lieberman (CT), Barbara Mikulski (MD), and Harry Reid (NV). Republican Senator Orrin Hatch did not vote.

These senators were concerned about the role of Gates in the Iran-Contra scandal and did not believe him to be suitable to head the intelligence agency. Will they be as concerned about approving the same individual for a Cabinet level position, high in the presidential line of succession, as they were about him serving as CIA director?

Word from veteran intelligence officers: Gates is dirty.

Wayne Madsen Report