Specter to seek answers from Lake

[UPI]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) - Sen. Arlen Specter says national security
adviser Anthony Lake, during hearings on his nomination to be CIA
director, will be pressed to clear up questions surrounding his
involvement with Iranian arms shipped to Bosnia.
Specter, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that will vote
on Lake's nomination, says there are ``serious questions'' concerning
Lake's nomination. He says he plans to meet with Lake this week.
Sen. Bob Kerrey, vice chairman of the committee, says Lake will be
able to answer all the questions put to him and he will be confirmed.
Some Republican senators are questioning Lake's involvement with the
arms shipment and want to quiz him on why he failed to sell off energy
stocks after being advised to do so by the White House counsel's office.
Specter and Kerrey appeared on CNN's ``Late Edition'' program.
The Washington Post reports Sunday that Lake called key senators and
told them it was a mistake not to have told Congress about the
shipments.
In 1994, Lake approved a State Department proposal that U.S.
Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith tell the government he had ``no
instructions'' in response to a question on whether the United States
approved or disapproved the shipment of Iranian arms through Croatia to
Bosnia.
White House chief of staff Leon Panetta told NBC's ``Meet the Press''
that the administration is ``pretty confident.''
Panetta also dismissed the stock transaction as an ``oversight,''
saying, ``he's got a very good case to present on that.''
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, also a member of the intelligence
committee, told ABC's ``This Week'' that Lake is a ``man of unquestioned
integrity'' but said in the arms shipment incident Lake ``crossed the
line.''
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