(2006-1000-F) Warren B. Rudman - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-1000-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. Senator Warren Bruce Rudman was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) on September 30, 1993. Rudman was appointed vice chairman in December 21, 1995 and chairman on February 18, 1998. Rudman served on the PFIAB until 2001. While on the PFIAB, Rudman was selected as vice chairman of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community. Rudman was chairman of the Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents in 1998. He was also chair of the PFIAB special investigation into the Department of Energy practices and policies. The Board’s report, Science at its Best, Security at its Worst, was highly critical of both the Department of Energy and the Clinton Administration. After leaving the PFIAB, Rudman co-chaired the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century. Along with Senator Gary Hart, the commission released a report in March 2001, entitled Roadmap for National Security, in which they called for a Department of Homeland Security. Rudman remains active in U.S. intelligence and security issues as an advisory board member and co-chair of the Partnership for a Secure America. In 2002, he co-authored the book, America—Still Unprepared, Still in Danger. Warren Rudman is currently Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Rudman joined the firm in 1993 after representing New Hampshire in the Senate from 1980 to 1993. Rudman, a centrist Republican, was approached by Clinton to be the Secretary of the Treasury in 1993 but declined the offer. While a member of the Senate he was chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and served on the Senate Appropriations Committee. In 1986, Rudman was selected to be vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee investigating arms deals with Iran. In 1992, Rudman co-founded the Concord Coalition whose platform is fiscal responsibility in government. Rudman was born in Boston, MA in 1930. He graduated from Valley Forge Military School in 1948 and received a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University in 1952. From 1952 to 1954 Rudman served in the United States Army where he was a combat platoon leader in the Korean War. Rudman returned to school following his service and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Boston College Law School in 1960. Rudman was in private practice from 1960 to 1970 when he was appointed Attorney General of New Hampshire. He served six years as Attorney General before returning to private practice. Rudman was awarded with the Presidential Citizens Medal on January 8, 2001. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, ―I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.‖ President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barak Obama more clearly defined the role of the PFIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. Clinton Presidential Records relating to Warren Rudman consist of White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject Files, White House Staff and Office Files, Automated Records Management [Email], Tape Restoration Project [Email] and NSC Cable, Emails and Records Management System. WHORM (OP) Files contain draft correspondence from President Clinton to congratulate award recipients, Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, college graduates, and a letter Sen. Rudman was to present to a elementary school he was visiting to discuss the history of American presidents. WHORM Subject Files contain memos, letters, and scheduling arrangements related to Rudman’s appointment, reappointment, and service on PFIAB. White House Staff and Office Files originate in the Counsel’s Office, National Security Council, Clerk’s Office, Scheduling Office, and Security Office. The records are primarily administrative in nature and related to Rudman’s appointment to PFIAB and the Commission on Roles and Capabilities of the US Intelligence Community. They also include an article written about Rudman’s time in public service, and receiving the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2000. Automated Records Management System [Email] (ARMS) and Tape Restoration Project [Email] (TRP) e-mail records responsive to this FOIA originate in the following agencies: Office of Policy Development (OPD), Office of the White House (WHO), Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) and Default e-mails belonging to no specific agency. These e-mails are primarily administrative in nature relating to Rudman’s appointment, reappointment, service on the PFIAB, and his receipt of the Presidential Citizen’s Medal. NSC Cable, Emails, and Records Management System records related to Rudman’s appointment, service on PFIAB and press guidance related to PFIAB.