Obama ‘confident’ in CIA director; some in Senate aren’t so sure
Washington (CNN) – Will an apology be enough to soothe the strained relations between the CIA and members of the Senate Intelligence Committee? It’s a critical lingering question in the rare public spat between the intelligence agency and the lawmakers charged with the agency’s oversight.
Tempers on the committee flared in recent months over reports that the CIA spied on computers used by intelligence committee staffers. A CIA inspector general’s report confirmed these reports this past week, prompting CIA Director John Brennan to apologize to committee members Thursday. However, some members aren’t satisfied, citing Brennan’s previous remarks that batted down the spying accusations
“I don't think an apology is enough,” Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine told CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.” “I think we've really got to have some serious discussions about John Brennan, find out what he knew about this when he was making those statements, what he knew about it at the time. I'm not calling for his resignation, but I'm pretty skeptical right now.”
In contrast, the White House reconfirmed support of Brennan.
CIA interrogation report could be released publicly next week
Washington (CNN) - A Senate Intelligence Committee report detailing the CIA’s controversial interrogation and detention program following the 9/11 terror attacks could be released to the public as soon as next week, congressional sources in each party said Wednesday.
The document that will be released is a nearly 700 page summary of the full 6,800 page report that was approved a year and a half ago by a committee sharply divided along party lines.
Lawyer: Senator and Dominican prostitutes story cooked up by Cuban intelligence agents
WASHINGTON - Sen. Robert Menendez, dogged by a federal corruption probe, was the target of a Cuban intelligence smear plot that managed to fool the FBI and media into investigating.
That's the allegation from Menendez's lawyer, who has asked the Justice Department to investigate, a person familiar with the request confirmed to CNN.
It's a dramatic twist to an already sensational story that involved allegations that Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, traveled to have sex with underage Dominican prostitutes. Those stories, shopped to journalists around Washington for months, were published on a conservative news website before the purported prostitutes recanted and the FBI found no merit in the matter.
Valerie Plame: CIA outing 'colossally stupid'
(CNN) - Another CIA official whose cover was blown by a presidential administration said the inadvertent outing of an intelligence official in Afghanistan by the White House was “colossally stupid” and will have repercussions for the intelligence community.
But Valerie Plame, whose identity was infamously leaked by the Bush administration in 2003 and touched off a scandal, said on Wednesday it’s an apples to oranges comparison as it appears to be a mistake, rather than a malicious takedown.
White House outs CIA official by mistake
(CNN) - The White House accidentally revealed the name of the CIA's top intelligence official in Afghanistan to some 6,000 journalists.
The identity was on a list of people attending a military briefing for President Barack Obama during his surprise visit to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Sunday.
Democrats blast Hayden's 'emotional' comment about Feinstein
(CNN) - Senate Democrats on Monday blasted former CIA Director Michael Hayden for charging that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein was motivated by “deep emotional feeling” when she approved a report critical of the CIA’s harsh treatment of detainees after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Gen. Hayden condescendingly accused Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein of being too emotional,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a floor speech. “She has been fearless. She has been thorough and fair. And for this man to say that because she criticizes tactics led by Gen. Hayden - that was torture - she is being too emotional? I don’t think so.”
Sunday Chatter: Fort Hood, damning CIA report, campaign finance and Obamacare
The Sunday political talk shows covered all the top political news of the week, ranging from the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, to a report about interrogation methods at the CIA, to the Affordable Care Act.
If you missed any of the Sunday political chatter, we've got you covered:
Pelosi: Cheney is ‘proud’ of Bush-era CIA that misled public
(CNN) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said former Vice President Dick Cheney "set a tone and attitude for the CIA" that allowed for the controversial techniques used by the agency in the Bush-era detention and interrogation program.
Her comments follow a Senate Intelligence Committee vote last week to release key parts of a report that concludes the CIA misled the government and public about aspects of the agency’s practices in the post-9/11 program.
Reid orders investigation into CIA/Intelligence Committee dispute
Washington (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid upped the ante in a simmering dispute between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Central Intelligence Agency by ordering an investigation into their competing charges of wrongdoing.
In a pair of letters made public Thursday to CIA Director John Brennan and Attorney General Eric Holder, Reid contends "the CIA has produced no evidence to support its claims" that committee investigators "hacked into the CIA's highly secure classified networks" and improperly obtained a controversial document related to the committee's investigation of torture by the agency in the wake of 9-11.
Former CIA official calls for release of report on CIA's post-9/11 interrogations
(CNN) - Former CIA Counterterrorism Official Phillip Mudd tells CNN host Michael Smerconish that a controversial report on the CIA’s counter-terrorism activities in the wake of the 9/11 al Qaeda attacks should be made public.
“Those of us who have names or titles in there, it will be a tough time. This is important for the American people to understand this era in American politics and war on terror. If this happens, I think it is okay,” Mudd told Smerconish.
However, Mudd admitted that it may be hard for the public to put the details of the report in the proper context.
“History can remember the facts, history cannot remember the feeling of sitting at that table every night in 2002 and 2003 and saying what's going to happen tomorrow and how do we find out what al Qaeda is up to? You can’t replicate the sense of tension that I remember,” Mudd said on CNN Saturday.
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