Rick Klein is ABC News' Senior Political Reporter and author of The Note's morning look at the upcoming day in politics. Throughout the day, ABC News' political team contributes to The Note with the very latest news and analysis from the nation's capital.
To email Rick Klein, click here.
RECENT POSTS
- The Note's Must-Reads for Wednesday, November 25, 2009
- ‘Top Line’ with Sally Quinn -- Inside the First Obama State Dinner
- GOPers to Biden: Stop Using Stimulus Jobs Numbers
- Exit Ramps: Democrats Grow Restless on Afghanistan Strategy
- The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, November 24, 2009
- RNC's Communications Chief Resigns
- A Better Palin Than Tina Fey?
- ‘Top Line’ -- ‘America’s Next Great Pundit’
- ‘Top Line’ at the Movies: ‘Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo’
- Mass. GOP Gov’s Candidate Chooses Openly Gay Running Mate
THE NOTE CATEGORIES
- 2010
- Afghanistan
- Bill Clinton
- CIA
- Congress
- Democratic party
- Environment
- Financial Reform
- GOP
- Gov. Mark Sanford
- Gov. Sarah Palin
- Guantanamo
- Health Care
- Hillary Clinton
- Immigration
- Iran
- Iraq
- John McCain
- Mitt Romney
- North Korea
- Obama Agenda
- Politics Live
- President Obama
- Republican Party
- Ronald Reagan
- Sen. John Ensign
- Senate
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stimulus
- Sunday Shows
- Supreme Court
- Ted Kennedy
- The Note
- The Note Must-Reads
- Top Line
- Vice President Biden
- Virginia
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
Investigation of Secret CIA Program Turns Into Political Brawl
July 17, 2009 4:27 PM
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports:
The CIA is so heavily investigated these days you wonder how much time they have for actual intelligence work.
The latest: The House intelligence committee announced a new investigation on Friday into whether the CIA broke the law by not telling Congress about a secret post-9/11 program to target Al Qaeda leaders.
In a written statement, committee Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) said the investigation will focus on "possible violations of federal law, including the National Security Act of 1947."
Republicans immediately denounced the investigation as an effort by Democrats to "tear down the CIA."
At issue is a secret program the CIA began planning shortly after the September 11 attacks but did not tell Congress about until June 24 of this year. The program never got beyond the planning and preparation stages.
By my count, this will be the fifth on-going investigation into the CIA counter-terrorism activities. Here are the other four (and their may be more):
- The Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating the CIA's interrogation program
- The House Intelligence Committee is investigating the destruction of the CIA's interrogation tapes
- The Justice Department is investigating the destruction of the tapes, and
- Attorney General Eric Holder is considering naming a special prosecutor to investigated whether CIA interrogators broke the law.
In his statement, Chairman Reyes said the decision to launch the investigation was made after consulting with the top Republican on the committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI). But Hoekstra put out his own statement blasting the announced investigation as "little more than partisan, political theater and continues the politicization of important intelligence matters by Democrats."
"The chairman and I talked about doing a balanced review of congressional notifications, an issue we both agree should be reviewed, " Hoekstra said. "Instead, they announced an investigation of 'violation' of the National Security Act when the current facts clearly do no support such an accusation."
Hoekstra went so far as to suggest that Republicans on the Intelligence committee may not cooperate with the investigation.
"At no time will the Republicans of this committee agree to or take part in congressional Democrats efforts to tear down the CIA to provide cover for Speaker Pelosi."
As for the CIA, the agency is trying to stay out of this political brawl, but is promising to cooperate with the investigation.
“Like Chairman Reyes, the agency’s goal is that this new investigation not become a distraction to the men and women of CIA, who have the vital mission of protecting the United States from foreign threats," CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano told ABC News. "The agency will, of course, work closely with the committee on this review.”
July 17, 2009 in CIA, Congress | Permalink | Share | User Comments (27)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Umm. This secret program that congress "didn't know about" until June 24th was reported about by the NY Times in 2002
Posted by: DJ | Jul 17, 2009 5:05:15 PM
How is the CIA and its Gulag different from the KGB and its Gulag?
Posted by: Sammy | Jul 17, 2009 5:32:41 PM
How is the CIA and its Gulag different from the KGB and its Gulag?
That's simple. One is good,and one is bad.
Posted by: Pat | Jul 17, 2009 5:41:36 PM
Obama and the thugs first tried to legislate failure in Iraq for political gains while Bush was president and when that did not work, Obama now has his Chicago thugs go after the very ones who were zealous in defending our lives and freedom for political gain.
we should just throw these worthless pieces liberal of trash into Iran
HOW QUAINT..
Posted by: paller | Jul 17, 2009 5:52:55 PM
Remember: Those darn facts always seem to mess us a good liberal rant.
Posted by: s | Jul 17, 2009 5:57:29 PM
AS I SEE IT, by Mainer Mike Brown.
Yeah, like Congress can keep a secret?
Posted by: Mainer Mike Brownai | Jul 17, 2009 6:06:06 PM
AS I SEE IT, by Mainer Mike Brown.
The Congress is too inept to know top secret information. They are also too inept to realize this.
Posted by: Mainer Mike Brown | Jul 17, 2009 6:42:03 PM
Here's the thing; the CIA is the American version of the KGB. We need them, but they bear watching. If they spend too much time doing clandestine spy stuff all on their own without any supervision by highly placed people who aren't immersed in the shadowy world that CIA operates in----then they get into trouble. Like in 1986 under the Reagan administration when the executive branch sold arms to IRAN and then used the money to finance rebels in the southern hemisphere and then, oops, all the paper got destroyed when Congress found out about it. Sound familiar? As in the tapes of torture were destroyed in defiance of a court order? We need to be safe, but we need to stand for American ideals in more than just words. That's why we have a system of checks and balances and that's why the CIA will be investigated when they break the rules about that oversight.
Posted by: karela | Jul 17, 2009 7:19:29 PM
Hoekstra's claim that this investigation is to "provide cover for Pelosi" doesn't even make sense, what is obvious though is that his refusal to co-operate is meant to provide cover for Cheney.
Posted by: JR | Jul 17, 2009 7:24:52 PM
Isn't the term "secret CIA program" a superfluous redundancy? Isn't that the point? Aren't all CIA programs supposed to be secret?
Posted by: tony | Jul 17, 2009 7:43:07 PM
I remember walking up West St from my apartment on Sept 12, 2001, two blocks from the south tower of the World Trade Center lying in ruins and thinking, "how many people are going to die before this is over"? - ITWARZ
Posted by: ITWARZ | Jul 17, 2009 7:43:20 PM
Remember how much we bitched and moaned when Argentina murdered somebody they didn't like on American soil? Remember when the Russians killed a couple of people in London, one with an umbrella weapon, another with nuclear poisoning? Remember how uncomfortable it made you feel when you thought of Putin sending hit squads out to kill people who said he stole their property? Next time you read about the US running secret hit squads think! - ITWARZ
Posted by: ITWARZ | Jul 17, 2009 7:59:45 PM
"The CIA is so heavily investigated these days you wonder how much time they have for actual intelligence work." Jonathan, I don't wonder. For years,no matter what party was in power, they appear to have just "made stuff up". Then when busted, they claim to be above the law. A more poignant political question, "Why are Republicans-the party of personal liberty-seemingly blocking any oversight? Protecting Bush-Cheney is the politics of past failure.
Posted by: B. Bear | Jul 17, 2009 8:03:01 PM
I don't know about you Tony, but I'm bothered by programs that are secret from our own government, especially when they involve "assassination squads". That level of secrecy isn't healthy to ANY society.
Posted by: JR | Jul 17, 2009 9:00:07 PM
Can you imagine working for the CIA in a deep cover program and knowing your life depended on the ability of Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein, Frank, and Waxman to keep their mouth shut and actually act in America's best interests? Anyone who would work for the CIA at this point is suicidal.
Posted by: DisgruntledRightWingVet | Jul 17, 2009 11:56:01 PM
Who the hell has "oversight" over Pelosi? Waxman? Murtha? Durbin? Rangel?
No one. These jerks are too busy
trying to destroy our country in the
name of liberalism, than protect this
country from enemies both foreign
and domestic.
Posted by: Trajan | Jul 18, 2009 12:09:58 AM
Two things to consider:
(A) The proposed program was only in the initial planning phase - it never came close to going operational. Does every proposal have to go through Congress? Get real.
(B) Isn't the CIA supposed to be trying to kill Al Qaeda leaders?????? That should be a no brainer.
Posted by: Patrick | Jul 18, 2009 9:04:37 AM
This is not about the CIA.It's about Cheeneey.Cheezy.Cheney and Rumsfelt
Posted by: Mike | Jul 18, 2009 9:08:43 AM
The CIA is being investigated because over the last 60 years they are front and center in some of our worst foreign policy blunders. The latest is shooting missiles into a sovereign country that has asked us not too. Got to love that!
Posted by: Huh | Jul 18, 2009 10:46:33 AM
The real problem is that if it a secret program as soon as you tell anyone in Congress it is no longer a secret program but a political item for them to use as they see fit. I'm all for keeping politicians out of the loop since they can't keep a secret.
Posted by: Sandcrab1612 | Jul 18, 2009 10:54:49 AM
Post a comment
POLITICAL VIDEOS
THE NOTE BLOG ROLL
- ABC News -- George Stephanopoulos
- ABC News -- Jake Tapper
- ABC News Politics
- ABC News -- The Numbers
- ABC News -- The Blotter
- The American Prospect -- TAPPED
- The Atlantic -- Politics Channel
- The Boston Globe -- Political Intelligence
- Center for American Progress -- Think Progress
- Center for Responsive Politics
- The Chicago Sun-Times -- Lynn Sweet
- The Chicago Tribune -- The Swamp
- Drudge Report
- FactCheck.org
- FiveThirtyEight
- Heritage Foundation -- The Foundry
- The Hill -- Briefing Room
- The Hotline
- The Huffington Post
- The Los Angeles Times -- Top of the Ticket
- NPR -- Political Junkie
- National Review -- The Corner
- The New Republic -- The Plank
- The New York Times -- The Caucus
- Newsweek -- The Gaggle
- Political Wire -- Taegan Goddard
- Politico -- Ben Smith
- Politico -- Mike Allen’s Playbook
- PolitiFact
- Real Clear Politics
- Talking Points Memo
- Time -- The Page
- USA Today -- On Politics
- Variety -- Wilshire & Washington
- The Wall Street Journal -- Capital Journal
- The Washington Post -- The Fix
- The Washington Post -- 44
