Senate Panel OKs Webster Nomination as CIA Chief, 15-0
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WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee unanimously approved FBI Director William H. Webster’s nomination to be CIA chief today, apparently satisfied with his explanation about the bureau’s links to the Iran- contra scandal.
The 15-0 vote came less than 24 hours after the panel’s third confirmation hearing for Webster, in which he disclosed two additional attempts by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North to delay criminal investigations involving figures linked to efforts to finance contra operations during the period when U.S. government aid to the Nicaraguan rebels was illegal. (Story, Page 22.)
The Senate now must vote on Webster’s nomination, and Senate leaders have said they anticipate Webster’s confirmation.
Webster, 63, a former federal judge who has led the FBI since 1978, would take over the CIA from William J. Casey, who resigned Feb. 2 nearly three months after undergoing brain cancer surgery.
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