Martinez Joins in White House Attack on Perot

National drug control director Bob Martinez escalated the Bush Administration’s attacks on Ross Perot on Tuesday, saying the likely presidential candidate has “a penchant for skulduggery” and is “not fit to be President.”

“This nation didn’t gain a hard-won victory in the Cold War, only to surrender its constitutional liberties to a secretive computer salesman with a penchant for skulduggery,” Martinez told the U.S. Conference of Mayors here. In the last few days, the Administration has stepped up its attacks on the Texas billionaire, questioning his aggressive tactics in past business and personal dealings.

The mayors appeared stunned as Martinez departed from his prepared text about drugs to lash out at Perot. He said Perot’s views on fighting drugs were “scary.”

(Perot campaigned to revise Texas’ drug laws in 1981. The state cracked down on drug paraphernalia shops, set mandatory 15-year prison terms for dealers and required doctors to notify a state databank each time they prescribed certain drugs. The proposals turned out to be largely ineffective.)

“I salute Mr. Perot for his good intentions when it comes to the drug war,” the Associated Press quoted Martinez as saying. “At least he wants to win. But his proposals in this area, as in others, illustrate why he is not fit to be President of the United States.

“Mr. Perot apparently believes that Draconian quick fixes will rid the nation of drugs. He has talked about cordoning off entire inner-city neighborhoods and treat(ing) all who live there as guilty until proven innocent,” Martinez said.

“He says we ought to declare civil war. He advocates reckless, Wild West covert operations. And he apparently regards the Bill of Rights as little more than an antique inconvenience.”

In a final shot, Martinez mused that perhaps he worried needlessly about Perot as President: “Once Mr. Perot finds out that he will have to take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, he probably won’t want the job,” he said.

Perot spokesman James Squires was not immediately available for comment. On Monday, Squires accused the Administration of a “hysterical attempt to mischaracterize Ross Perot and create fear of him in the public mind.”

Martinez was followed to the podium by Democratic presidential hopeful Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., who said: “All the little cheap shots from the White House are not going to stop Perot.”

Later, in Dallas, Perot’s headquarters announced that he would hold a press conference today in Annapolis, Md. Aides said they did not know why Perot decided to hold the news conference, but campaign chairman Tom Luce told Reuters that Perot’s opponents are distorting his record. “We have a distortion of his record and a distortion of his accomplishments,” Luce said. “It is outrageous.”