FBI 'Workhorse' Announces His Retirement

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9 -- This is one of those startling turns of events that, upon reflection, surprises no one — FBI Assistant Director John Collingwood has announced his retirement.

Few people in Washington have lived as stress-filled a life in the past decade as this guy.

He was working for FBI Director Bill Sessions when the incoming Clinton administration, with a reported boost from certain people within the bureau, was trying to dislodge him.

Then he served through all the turbulent times with FBI Director Louis Freeh, a director who almost literally made war on the White House, his president, and very often his attorney general.

And somehow Collingwood managed yet another transition, serving what will have been the first hair-raising year of FBI Director Bob Mueller's tenure. There is no other senior official who has survived all three directors.

Because Collingwood oversaw the press operation, there were (still are) some reporters foolish enough to think of him as just the chief spokesman for the bureau. In fact, his bailiwick in recent years has been both congressional and public affairs — overseeing hundreds of employees dealing with issues as diverse as the Freedom of Information Act and the FBI tour.

But even more than all that, his value has been that of trusted adviser. As one official told me, often in the past several years, only General Counsel Larry Parkinson knew as much or sat in on as many meetings with the director as Collingwood did.

To some exasperated reporters, it's always been clear that Collingwood preferred dealing with the Hill, and indeed that's where his true value lay for both Freeh and Mueller. All too often, desperate reporters would only get their calls returned at night, as Collingwood was driving home. All too often, his cell phone would go dead at just the most critical point in a conversation. He has even teased (at least I think it was teasing) that he saved the dying batteries for my calls. But often he would stick with the conversation right into his driveway — or when he pulled into the pizza place to pick up a late supper.

One still-embittered former Justice official wished Collingwood good riddance, still holding him responsible for some of Freeh's backroom dealings with Republicans in Congress on campaign finance that so undermined former Attorney General Janet Reno.

But Reno's last spokesman, Myron Marlin, always had good relations with Collingwood despite the battles raging between others in the two buildings. He told me, "John's a guy with immense knowledge who knows how the game is played and plays it very well. It's going to be tough to replace somebody like a John Collingwood."

Attorney General John Ashcroft's former spokeswoman Mindy Tucker was even more enthusiastic, saying how much she enjoyed working with him, adding, "he is somebody that is a workhorse, not a showhorse. ... He does a lot more than most people realize and is probably more valuable than most people understand."