CIA Director Porter Goss' choice for the post of executive director of the intelligence agency has declined the appointment after accounts were published about his resignation from the CIA two decades ago.
Michael Kostiw said Monday he will still serve as a senior advisor to Mr. Goss, but feared the reports of his past indiscretion would "be a distraction from the critical work" of the agency.
As executive director, Mr. Kostiw would have been the agency's day-to-day manager, overseeing budgetary and personnel decisions.
The Washington Post reported Sunday the former House of Representatives Intelligence Committee's staff director for terrorism resigned from the CIA in 1982 after being put on leave for shoplifting. The paper reported that, in exchange for his quitting, the agency arranged for charges to be dropped and his police record to be cleared.
