(Image Source: Newsy Staff)
BY JIM FLINK
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
Deceptive. Driven. Willing to distort the truth.
Those are just some of the descriptions in a FBI file gathered when the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was up for consideration for a presidential advisor’s position for the elder President Bush.
That file — which consisted of interviews with Jobs’ former colleagues — paints a sometimes unflattering picture.
Here’s the Wall Street Journal — which broke the story.
“A Palo Alto, Calif.-based man who identifies himself as a former ‘good friend’ of Mr. Jobs said that while he was ‘basically an honest and trustworthy person, he is a very complex individual and his moral character is suspect.’ Mr. Jobs ‘alienated a large number of people at Apple, as a result of his ambition.’”
Oh, it gets richer. Wired says...
“One interviewee remarked on Jobs’s well-known drug use – which included, by his own admission, the use of LSD during his schooldays. Others mentioned that Jobs couldn’t be trusted... Some noted that while his ambition produced great success, it also caused him to lose sight of integrity...”
The interviews were conducted between the time Jobs left Apple — and the time he returned.
Not everyone offered such a dismal view. Gawker says, even Jobs’ detractors saw his enormous upside.
“In Jobs’ defense, many of the people interviewed attested to his upstanding moral character. And even those who savaged him still recommended him for the appointment, which he didn't get. As one put it: ‘[H]e believed ... honesty and integrity are not prerequisites to assume such a position.’”
Find it a little weird the government wanted to know all that about a man for a low-level government export post? Well, CNET says, it got all those answers and more.
“Reading through the early pages, we know that Jobs wasn’t a communist or wasn't connected to any group that wanted to overthrow the government. They really asked him that. According to the Council's Web site, the group is the ‘principal national advisory committee on international trade.’”
Want to see the entire — now open — FBI file — replete with plenty of redactions?
You can view it — in our transcript section.
