Jim Wilkinson (former U.S. Government Employee) - NSC, Richard Clarke, Condoleezza Rice, and Treasury

NSC, Richard Clarke, Condoleezza Rice, and Treasury

Wilkinson was the spokesman for the United States National Security Council. In an op-ed titled "Smear Without Fear", Paul Krugman of The New York Times attributed to Wilkinson a smear on Richard Clarke broadcast on CNN, writing that,

"Wilkinson seems to have questioned Mr. Clarke's sanity, saying: 'He sits back and visualizes chanting by bin Laden, and bin Laden has a mystical mind control over U.S. officials. This is sort of "X-Files" stuff.' Really? On Page 246 of "Against All Enemies," Mr. Clarke bemoans the way the invasion of Iraq, in his view, played right into the hands of Al Qaeda: 'Bush handed that enemy precisely what it wanted and needed.. .. It was as if Usama bin Laden, hidden in some high mountain redoubt, were engaging in long-range mind control of George Bush.' That's not '"X-Files" stuff': it's a literary device, meant to emphasize just how ill conceived our policy is. Mr. Blitzer should be telling Mr. Wilkinson to apologize."

As a senior aide to then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Wilkinson was credited with an image-making strategy that elevated Rice to "rock star status". Wilkinson employed specific strategies to counter notions Rice was cold and did not care about diplomacy. While Chief of Staff in the U.S. Treasury department, Wilkinson worked under Henry Paulson. A Wilkinson September 2008 email regarding the government's approach to Lehman Brothers appeared in a 2010 Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission document. Wilkinson emailed "can’t stomach us bailing out lehman. Will be horrible in the press." Wilkinson declined to comment on his emails.