CIA’s leader steps down

WASHINGTON – Porter J. Goss was forced to step down Friday as CIA director, ending a turbulent 18-month tenure marked by an exodus of some of the agency’s top talent and growing White House dissatisfaction with his leadership during a time of war.

Seated next to President Bush in the Oval Office, Goss, a Republican congressman from Florida before he took over the CIA, said he was “stepping aside” but gave no reason for the departure. Bush, who did not name a successor, said he had accepted the resignation and thanked Goss for his service.

“Porter’s tenure at the CIA was one of transition, where he’s helped this agency become integrated into … the intelligence community,” Bush said. “That was a tough job, and he’s led ably.” Bush said he had developed a “very close personal relationship” with Goss, who succeeded George Tenet at the agency’s helm in September 2004.

But senior administration officials said Bush had lost confidence in Goss, 67, almost from the beginning and decided months ago to replace him. In what was described as a difficult meeting in April with Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, Goss was told to prepare to leave by May, according to several officials with knowledge of the conversation.

“There has been an open conversation for a few weeks, through Negroponte, with the acknowledgment of the president” about replacing Goss, said a senior White House official who discussed the internal deliberations on condition of anonymity. Another senior White House official said Goss had always been viewed as a “transitional figure” who would leave by year’s end. His departure was accelerated after Bush launched a shake-up of his White House staff in hopes of beginning a political turnaround.

White House officials said the president could nominate Goss’ successor as early as Monday. Homeland Security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, who had long been rumored as a potential candidate, was not in the running, administration officials said.

Negroponte took over as intelligence czar last year in a job created by Congress when it overhauled the nation’s intelligence agencies in response to their failure to detect the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Negroponte’s role as the government’s senior coordinator overseeing a web of intelligence agencies diminished Goss’ job.

And administration officials said Goss never forged a strong relationship with Bush. “It just didn’t click,” one official said on condition of anonymity. The former congressman’s reserved personality and inability to master details of intelligence activities dampened the atmosphere of the president’s morning intelligence briefing, which had been a central feature of the close relationship between Bush and Tenet. In one of his early interviews, Goss complained that he was spending hours preparing for the Oval Office sessions.