White House Denies Commerce Dept. Aide Was Fired
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WASHINGTON — White House officials Wednesday denied news reports that a Commerce Department official, Dennis Kloske, has been fired after publicly blaming Pentagon and State Department officials for failing to block exports of high technology to Iraq in the months preceding the Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait.
The incident was the latest in an intensive round of Washington finger-pointing over who will get the blame for the Administration’s refusal to clamp down on trade with Iraq before the invasion.
For weeks, State and Defense Department officials have sought to blame Commerce. Kloske, an undersecretary of commerce, testified on Capitol Hill on Monday, blaming the State Department for the inaction. The next day, reports spread that Kloske had been fired.
However, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater told reporters Wednesday that Kloske had been planning for weeks to leave his job.
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