‘Give the guy a break.” That was Sen. Harry Reid’s answer to ABC this week when asked about Chuck Hagel’s incoherent performance at his confirmation hearing for defense secretary.
Now an Armed Services Committee vote on Hagel has been delayed after 25 Republicans sent a letter asking him to answer questions about whether foreign money paid for any of the work he did or speeches he gave after leaving the Senate.
So far, Reid hasn’t joined those asking for more info. But he wasn’t always this reticent. Back when President George W. Bush named Henry Kissinger to chair the 9/11 Commission, Reid was among the Democrats who insisted that Kissinger turn over his client list as a condition of serving.
When Kissinger resigned rather than disclose, Reid accused the former secretary of state of having “too many conflicts of interest” — and berated the Bush administration for trying to gloss over the issue. “What are they trying to hide?” he asked.
Running the Pentagon sure seems a far more critical job than chairing an advisory commission. Shouldn’t the Senate majority leader be at least as interested in which foreign interests are paying Hagel as he was about which ones paid Kissinger?