The Hollinger revelations follow the accusations of last spring that Perle was representing companies that had business pending before the Department of Defense, while at the same time he was advising the DOD in a semi-official capacity. In March, Perle was forced to give up his unpaid position as chairman of the Defense Policy Board after conflict-of-interest allegations were made in the press, most notably the New Yorker and the New York Times. (At Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's request, Perle remained on the board itself, but not as chairman.)

This month the Department of Defense's inspector general pronounced Perle innocent of any ethics violations, although the ruling was based mostly on a technicality. The inquiry determined that through his role with the Defense Policy Board, Perle works for the Pentagon only eight days a year, so he is therefore not subject to its stringent conflict-of-interest regulations.

But neither Perle, nor the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, which called for apologies from reporters who publicly questioned Perle's integrity, had much time to savor the vindication; soon the Hollinger scandal became Page One news on two continents.

Beyond the damage the scandal may cause to Perle, the pending collapse of Hollinger carries with it additional political ramifications. Because while Black's media empire has been shrinking in recent years -- in 2000 he unloaded most of his Canadian newspapers for $1.8 billion -- it has remained a consistent outlet for conservative voices.

It's too early to say who might buy up Hollinger's highest-profile properties, but it's questionable whether the new owners would maintain the dailies' conservative slant. Of particular interest to hard-liners is Hollinger's Jerusalem Post. As the Jewish Forward newspaper in New York City noted last week, "The Post was historically known as a left-wing newspaper, until its acquisition by Hollinger in 1989. Since then it has become a leading conservative outlet for opponents of the peace process throughout the world."

The sale of the Jerusalem Post would also rob Perle of one of his most reliable media outlets, where -- being tossed softball questions -- he's often interviewed at length about current events. ("How does Bush compare with your idol Ronald Reagan in defending the free world?") The paper though, rarely informs readers that Perle sits on the board of directors of the company that publishes the Post. In fact, just last week, the Post conducted a lengthy sit-down with Perle, but failed to ask him about the key role he may have played in the burgeoning Hollinger scandal. In fact, the issue was never addressed.

Perle's Hollinger woes come on the heels of other public missteps. For instance, last summer he embarrassed the Pentagon when he invited Laurent Murawiec, a former follower of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, to brief the Defense Policy Board about Saudi Arabia. The emphasis of Murawiec's presentation was that Saudi Arabia should be counted among "our enemies," and that, if necessary, the United States should threaten Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, located inside Saudi Arabia. Following press inquiries, Perle claimed ignorance, insisting he didn't know what Murawiec was going to say.

Earlier this year when the New Yorker's Sy Hersh detailed Perle's possible conflicts of interest, Perle went on CNN and labeled the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist a "terrorist" and threatened to sue for libel. (Perle has yet to take any legal action.)

This summer the Nation magazine reported Perle often charged foreign TV news organizations up to $900 for on-camera interviews with him.

On Nov. 6, the New York Times reported Perle had met for two hours at a London hotel with a mysterious Lebanese businessman who, allegedly on behalf of the Baathist regime, was offering to hold monitored elections and allow U.S. troops to search for WMDs, in exchange for leaving Saddam in power. In the end, the offer was essentially dismissed by the CIA and the Pentagon. Perle told the Guardian newspaper that he had been told by the CIA not to pursue the contacts.

Cannistraro, who also received back-channel feelers from Iraqis on the eve of war, which he relayed to the State Department, says Perle was "disingenuous" about the meetings, since administration hawks, their minds set on war, were not eager to consider last-minute peace initiatives. "He didn't do it with an open heart," says Cannistraro.

Most recently, while Bush was visiting Britain last week, Perle conceded to a London lecture crowd that the war with Iraq, based on international law, was likely illegal. "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing," he said.

Just prior to the war, British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith gave prime minister Tony Blair crucial political cover when he ruled the war, even without a second United Nations resolution authorizing the use of force, would be legal.

"It's hard to figure out what [Perle] was trying to do as a tactical matter," says Michael Dorf, a law professor at Columbia University and a columnist for FindLaw.com. He notes Perle's argument would have made more sense if caches of weapons of mass destruction had been seized in Iraq. "That way, he could say, 'Technically the war was illegal but aren't you glad we did it?'" But without the WMDs, the argument falls flat.

Now, instead of worrying about missing WMDs, Perle has to contend with angry Hollinger shareholders, at a time when the courts and the SEC are taking a new hard-line approach with boards accused of negligence. Says Minow: "This is just a plain case of fingers getting caught in the cookie jar."

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