Blumenthal Noncommittal About Supporting Lieberman for FBI Job

May 19--With more Democrats saying they would not support former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman as the next FBI director, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal refused to say Friday whether he would support his friend for the job.

Blumenthal said many Senate Democrats share the same view that he has -- that the next FBI chief should have an extensive criminal justice background and should be above politics.

Lieberman, 75, has not been nominated for the position, but the White House says that he is President Donald Trump's leading choice for the job. The White House also said that no pick would be announced Friday as Trump left for an eight-day overseas trip that will bring him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Vatican City.

Many liberal Democrats are still bitter about Lieberman's stance in publicly supporting Republican John McCain against Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race and for strongly supporting the Iraq War under Republican President George W. Bush. Despite being the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee in 2000, Lieberman has lost support among liberals in his party. Many Connecticut Democrats voted against him when he was defeated by Greenwich anti-war activist Ned Lamont in the 2006 primary, but then Lieberman won the general election for his fourth term in the Senate.

Blumenthal would not predict whether Lieberman could be approved in the bitterly divided U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

"I'm not ruling anybody out, and I'm not ruling anybody in," Blumenthal said. "Given the president's proclivity for surprises, we don't know what he will do. Rather than commenting on all the potential nominees, and there are others who are also in the front-runner category, I really want to hold my fire until someone is nominated."

When asked if he would support Lieberman, Blumenthal responded, "What's most important to me is that the FBI director have unquestionable credibility in the law enforcement community and that she or he have expertise and experience in criminal justice, rather than partisan politics. The next FBI director must be above politics -- a qualification that is more important than ever in light of the polarization that we see in Washington."

He added, "I've known Joe Lieberman for many years. I deeply respect his commitment to public service. The next person who heads the FBI must have that background in criminal justice, the unquestionable credibility that the law enforcement community deserves and be above politics."

Blumenthal said he has not spoken to Lieberman about any aspect of being FBI director.

"If he were nominated, I would want to talk to him, and ask his views and his qualifications as he sees them," Blumenthal said.

Since his named was released as a front-runner and he was interviewed by the president, Lieberman has maintained a low-profile. He has not returned emails and telephone calls from The Courant.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, who succeeded Lieberman in the U.S. Senate in January 2013, has taken a similar view as Blumenthal.

"I hold Senator Lieberman's seat. He's no pushover, as both parties know," Murphy said this week on the "Morning Joe" program on MSNBC. "He's been a pain in the butt to both Republicans and Democrats during his time both in and out of the Senate. I think the question is whether you want someone with a political pedigree or whether you want someone with a law enforcement pedigree. And I think there's a lot of people on both sides of the aisle that are looking for someone who doesn't come from the political realm."

A longtime Democrat who began his public life as a 1960s anti-war activist, Lieberman has had many political twists and turns over the past 40 years on his way to becoming a national political figure.

His friends say he took a hard right turn after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and his support of the Iraq War led to the challenge from Lamont in the 2006 primary.

After Lieberman supported McCain in the 2008 presidential race, some angry Democrats wanted to strip him of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee. But with strong support from his close friend, Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Lieberman kept his chairmanship.

Despite the widespread criticism from liberals, Lieberman remained a reliable Democratic voter by staying with the party about 90 percent of the time on issues like gun control, abortion rights, tax increases and gay rights. He was credited with being the 60th vote for Obama's health care plan, which had been blasted by Republicans, and he was a key sponsor of repealing the military policy of "don't ask, don't tell" for gay and lesbian service members.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who grew up as Lieberman did as a Stamford Democrat, also demurred on potential nomination.

"I'll wait to comment about the things the president says until they come true ... which means we may wait a long time on a lot of things," Malloy said Friday. "Yesterday was another wild and wacky day in Washington."

Courant staff writer Russell Blair contributed to this report.

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