Unlikely.

The more I think about it, the more I think Perle is just doing this cuz it will be easier for him to do what he's always done--Lobby for private interests under the cloak of Idealism.

Consider how tightly the Bush administration has circled the wagons around other key figures who are at the center of corporate scandals and allegations of conflicted interests. They've displayed an uncanny ability to keep the heat off and protect their own from scandals that would have toppled most.

I have to think that they knew they could keep him on but simply decided it didn't matter and he could keep doing what he does more easily and with less publicity.