U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, former Senator Chuck Hagel (L), stands next to counterterrorism adviser John Brennan (R), the nominee for CIA Director, at the White House in Washington January 7, 2013.

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:52pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's pick to become the next U.S. defense secretary, has begun calling critics in the Senate in an attempt to clarify his views about how to deal with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas before his upcoming nomination hearing.

The decorated Vietnam veteran's Republican credentials have done little to rally support with his party, which he publicly split with as a senator by opposing the Iraq war during the Bush administration.

Hagel's private calls to lawmakers and efforts by supporters to defend him publicly are part of what is likely to be a hard-fought battle over his nomination. Opponents tried for weeks to dissuade Obama from choosing the former Nebraska senator.

One prominent senator, Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, predicted even before his nomination that Hagel, if confirmed, would be "the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the State of Israel in our nation's history."

U.S. officials who have spoken with Hagel since he was nominated on Monday say he has been calling senators before confirmation hearings begin in the coming weeks. Current and former U.S. officials say he is particularly concerned with portrayals of his record on Iran. Critics accuse him of opposing sanctions and being satisfied with containing Tehran, as opposed to preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

"He feels that who he is, what he stands for and what his attitudes are have been misrepresented and distorted," said Dennis Ross, a former top Obama Middle East adviser.

"What he said to me very clearly was that ... he deeply believes that Iran does need to be prevented from having the bomb and that he doesn't believe in containment."

By tradition, Cabinet nominees are expected to avoid public comment until their confirmation hearings.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, in an opinion piece entitled "Why I Can't Support Hagel," accused Hagel of failing to understand the threat from Iran and groups like Hamas.

One U.S. official who is familiar with the information Hagel is providing to members of the Senate defended Hagel's approach to the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. As a senator, Hagel decided not to join 88 other senators in a 2006 letter calling on the European Union to designate Lebanon-based Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hagel believes it is not appropriate for members of Congress to write foreign leaders and that they should write the president, instead. More important, the official said, was Hagel's voting record.

"There were a number of pieces of legislation that actually called on Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization that he supported and voted for," the official said.

On Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, the official said Hagel also felt his position was being misrepresented. Despite claims to the contrary by critics, Hagel does not support direct, unconditional engagement with Hamas and agrees it must first renounce violence, he said.

The officials declined to say which lawmakers Hagel has spoken with but said they included members of both parties. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has spoken with him and the two agreed to meet, McCain's spokesman said.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, following two meetings with Hagel this week, on Thursday predicted that Hagel would ultimately be confirmed as his successor.

"In these confirmation battles, there are a lot of charges that will be out there," Panetta said. "But ultimately, the truth prevails. And I think the truth in this case will mean that he'll be confirmed."

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

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The Olympic Stadium is reflected on a temporary structure sponsored by BP at the Olympic Park in Stratford, the location of the London 2012 Olympic Games, in east London July 18, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Sat Oct 6, 2012 10:16pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators from the U.S. Gulf Coast urged President Barack Obama on Friday to ensure that any legal settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill does not undermine a recently passed law that would funnel billions of dollars worth of fines to their states.

The U.S. Justice Department and BP Plc have discussed a potential settlement for damages caused both to Gulf waters and the coastline, which could be worth billions of dollars to states still trying to recover from the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

While the details of those discussions have been kept under wraps, Democratic and Republican senators from the region said they have "grave concerns about developments of the settlement terms" that have been cited by local media outlets.

Senators pointed to recent press reports that the Justice Department and BP are discussing settlement terms that would maximize penalties to be paid under Natural Resource Damage assessments, and minimize those paid under the Clean Water Act.

The RESTORE Act, signed by President Barack Obama on July 6, directs that 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP be placed in a new trust fund for restoration efforts in the five coastal states damaged by the worst U.S. offshore oil spill: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas.

In a bipartisan letter - a rare sight ahead of the November 6 presidential elections - eight senators told Obama they are worried the Justice Department is considering allowing the bulk of fines to be assessed under the Oil Pollution Act for damages assessed to the coastline, with a minority of fines assessed for damages under the Clean Water Act.

Fines arising from Clean Water Act violations could reach $21 billion, if BP is found to be grossly negligent of causing the April 20, 2010, explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 rig workers and unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil that soiled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states. BP has adamantly denied any accusations of gross negligence, and declined to comment on the senators' letter.

Without the bill, federal Clean Water Act fines would have gone straight to the U.S. Treasury. Anywhere from $4 billion to $16.8 billion could flow into states' coffers under the bill's terms.

The Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register first reported the proposed deal earlier this week, citing unnamed officials who had been briefed by the Justice Department.

The potential settlement could be attractive to BP, because fines under the Oil Pollution Act are treated more favorably by the U.S. tax code than are Clean Water Act fines, congressional sources said.

"Not only would the federal government have final say as to what qualified as environmental damage but BP, who is responsible for this, would also get a tax deduction that could write off millions," Representative Jo Bonner, an Alabama Republican, told Reuters. "The audacity of giving BP a tax write-off."

A Justice Department spokesman had no comment on either negotiations nor the criticisms from elected officials.

Senators told Obama the trade-off would mean less money allocated through a formula lawmakers negotiated in the RESTORE Act, legislation which puts decisions on how the money is spent in the hands of states and local governments.

"Circumventing the will of Congress by short changing the RESTORE Act is wholly unacceptable to us. We urge you to reject such an approach," said the letter, signed late on Friday by Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, and Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, who co-authored the legislation.

Shelby is concerned that Alabama's two coastal counties could lose out on planned recovery projects if the settlement was skewed toward Oil Pollution Act damage assessments, aides told Reuters.

"We urge you to negotiate a robust settlement that does not achieve a higher amount under one of these statutes at the expense of the other," said the letter, also signed by Florida senators Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Republicans Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and John Cornyn of Texas also signed the letter.

Louisiana, which bore the brunt of environmental damage from the spill, expects to be compensated for damages regardless of the legal means, said Garret Graves, senior environmental advisor to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"Every statistic that's out there in regard to the impact of the spill clearly points to a disproportionate impact on the state of Louisiana, and Louisiana's focus will be ensuring that we fulfill our legal obligation to address all of these impacts to the Gulf," Graves said.

(The story corrects paragraph 17 to read "Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi" instead of Missouri)

(Additional reporting by David Ingram in Washington, Verna Gates in Birmingham, Alabama, Kathy Finn in New Orleans and Emily Le Coz in Tupelo, Mississippi; Editing by Chris Baltimore and Gary Hill)

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