It’s Really FBI Director Freeh’s Call

On the surface, the promotion of Larry A. Potts to deputy director of the FBI appears problematic. Though Potts has earned a reputation as a top criminal investigator in 21 years at the bureau, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh recently censured him for failing to supervise rules of engagement properly in the 1992 standoff in which an FBI marksman killed a white separatist’s wife in Idaho. Still, Freeh placed Potts in command of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and, on Potts’ May 2 promotion, called him “the very best the FBI has.”

In reforming the hidebound FBI, Freeh--former agent, federal prosecutor and judge--has relied on people with whom he has worked closely. Aides to Freeh say he has been impressed with Potts’ abilities ever since they collaborated in solving the notorious mail-bomb murders of a federal judge in Alabama and a civil rights lawyer in Georgia in 1989 (Freeh was special prosecutor).

One reason there is so much controversy about this appointment is that Potts has been the FBI’s lightning rod for right-wing extremists. He helped draft the plan for the disastrous assault on the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Tex., two years ago. His role in the Idaho incident is disputed. Idaho FBI leaders trying to arrest white separatist Randy Weaver on gun charges wrote special rules of engagement that seemed to allow marksmen to shoot on sight; under standard FBI rules, agents may shoot only when lives are threatened. Deputy Atty. Gen. Jamie Gorelick later termed the special rules “poorly worded and highly problematic,” but the FBI maintains that Weaver’s wife was killed under the old rules of self-defense because the shot was directed not at her but at an armed man aiming at an FBI helicopter.

It is unclear if Potts, supervising from Washington, approved the special rules, but he did leave the matter ambiguous, and for that he was given the relatively light punishment of censure. This stirred resentment among agents who were given harsher sanctions and who argue that Freeh scapegoated them to shield his friend Potts. That may or may not be so.

With outrageous contempt for public safety, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has said he will slow congressional action on terrorist legislation because of Potts’ promotion, which was approved by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and which does not require congressional confirmation. As long as Freeh is director he has the right to choose aides in whom he has confidence. Congress should not interfere, certainly not to pander to potentially violent extremists.

The Justice Department has delayed releasing two lengthy internal reports on the Idaho incident, saying the local county prosecutor in Idaho requested that. When released, those reports should help clarify the Potts issue. Ultimately, public credibility in the FBI, Freeh and Potts would be better served by an independent outside inquiry. Sacrificing Potts now would serve only to satisfy political extremists.