Informant38

One candidate screened by the White House was William Miller, a widely respected researcher and professor at the University of New Mexico who was nominated to serve on the advisory council on drug abuse. Miller says he's never been secretive about his politics. "If somebody started digging, they wouldn't have to dig too far to find out I'm a lifelong liberal," he says. "I've never been arrested or joined the Communist Party -- I'm just what Garrison Keillor calls a 'museum quality' liberal Democrat."

That apparently was enough to trigger alarm bells at the White House. Last January 15, a liaison staffer interviewed Miller by phone. According to Miller, the staffer told him that he needed to determine whether Miller held "any views that might be embarrassing to the president." He began by asking Miller's views on drug legalization and needle exchange; when Miller responded that he was opposed to the former and in favor of the latter, the staffer replied, "You're one for two." The staffer then asked a series of questions that had no apparent relevance to Miller's qualifications to serve on the council: Did he favor capital punishment for drug kingpins? (No.) Was he opposed to abortion? (No.) Had he voted for Bush?