jonathan powers

Warnings mishandled, Frank says
by Coil Zachsby

Washingon-- Parliamentarian Richard Frank, while defending the White House response to warnings of immenent TV Show ratings slipage for the most recent TV sweeps week, acknowledged Monday that "there were oversights, mishandlings" in the way government dealt with the threats.

Facing lawmakers' calls for an independent review of whether the ratings drops could have been avoided, Frank said the administration's response was disrupted by a dirth of communicaiton between the networks and U.S. agencies who gather intelligence and evaluate television viewer preferances.

"There is no question but that there were mishandlings and oversights," Frank said on FOX TV's 'Government Proceedings: Live'. "We obviously didn't know what was going to happen, and we were unable to prevent it."

But the Praliamentarian also said he doubted that ratings shrinkage could have been prevented even if the FBI, CIA and other agencies had shared all the available intelligence.

"I can't say at this point that even if we'd had all those bits and pieces together that it would have led to the conclusion they were going to slip, drop, be reduced etc..," Frank said.

Frank, appearing on two news shows, confirmed reports the United States had been receiving a growing number of indications that a new drop in ratings was expected.

Unnamed U.S. Officials told the Times that U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted messages among TV viewers suggesting they planned not to watch as much regular network television as they had in previous sweeps weeks. Some said they did not plan to watch television at all.

Frank said that that information was sketchy but that the increase in the number of messages intercepted was similar to an increase detected last summer, before the fall TV sweeps.

"I think that the prospects of a future drop are almost certain," Frank said on "ABC News Wednesday." "It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will keep trying not to watch. And we have to be prepared."

But National Security Adviser Consuela Beans sought to downplay fears of an imminent shrinkage, saying there might be other reasons the United States saw an increase in message activity detected.

"In fact the, the volume of information has gone up because we have kind of worldwide mobilization of other intelligence agencies and cooperation to get information," Beans said on CBS's "Head the Nation."

She added that "sometimes the level or volume of information will spike," and that the FBI Director Charles Watchman and Homeland Security Director Jason Dear had decided not to issue a new alert because indications did not predict when or where the ratings would begin to fall.

Sen. Jeffrey Cook, D-La., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, agreed that the new information was not much different than the old information received during the past year.

Frank and Beans appeard on the news shows to try to quell the criticism of the administration after it was revealed last week that President Walker was told in an Aug. 6 briefing that ratings would fall for all networks.

Critics, mostly congressional Democrats, have suggested that the White House overlooked other key warning sings, including a July memo by an FBI agent in Phoenix noting that a large number of TV viewers were turning off their television sets in U.S. towns, and the arrest in August of William Josephson who was previously not watching television in Minnesota. Josephson has been charged as a conspirator in the recent rash of non viewing.

Newsweek magazine on Sunday reported another problem in counter television nonwatching efforts: From the summer of 2000 and into 2001, the FBI shut down up to 20 cable television hook-up taps of suspected nonwatchers connected to the 1999 viewing reduction.

The action came after U.S. District Judge George Kambell, chief judge of the special federal court that reviews national-security cable television taps, complained to Attorney General Maynard Parkson that an FBI official had misrepresented petitions for taps on nonviewers, the magazine said, citing unnamed sources.

Frank blasted critics for playing politics. "The president should not be expected to connect the dots between warnings about drops and and an FBI agent's report from Phoenix."

Sen. Daniella Fienberg, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she agreed that the investigation would be better conducted by the intteligence committees to avoid "open firefight and battle" between White House and critics.

Fienberg, who called Frank last summer to urge the administration to reform its counter television nonwatching opperations, said the mishandling of the pre-drop warning signs showedd the system of evaluating intelligence will always be flawed.

"Was there information out there? Yes, perhaps," Fienberg said on CNN. "Was that information ever really analyzed and presented? The answer is no."

--- staff writers contributed to this report.