Pelosi's Intel Oversight Power Play
Nancy Pelosi's latest push to handcuff the intel community has set her on a collision course with the CIA, White House and other Democrats.
Nancy Pelosi is at it again. She does not seem to understand who the enemy is regarding the War on Terror. Instead of coming up with ways to combat the terrorists, she tries to handcuff the intelligence community. In the past, she falsely denied being informed about the enhanced interrogation techniques and with the aid of Congressman Jim McDermott sneakily tried to insert a provision into an intelligence bill which would have limited the CIA’s effectiveness. Now she wants to require intelligence agencies to inform all members of the intelligence committee instead of a select few as is currently the case. She also wants to give the Government Accountability Office the power to review intelligence programs.
It seems that no one other than Pelosi and her supporters think these requirements are a good idea. President Obama has said he will veto the bill if they include Pelosi’s provisions and former President Bush has also gone on the record against them. A former high-ranking CIA official stated that “the White House (Brennan) and CIA (Panetta) are fighting this because it creates more of a possibility for leaks to happen.” Another former CIA official wanted to emphasize that by doing this “Pelosi is robbing the intelligence community of agility. Accountability is already in place with the oversight committees and the inspector general. This just adds another layer of bureaucracy.”
To get her way Pelosi is not allowing the intelligence authorization bill to go to the floor unless these provisions are included. Because Senator Feinstein is a little more sensitive regarding these issues she has responded to Pelosi by holding up Gen. James Clapper’s DNI nomination until there is an authorization bill. Basically it comes down to these two California Democrats trying to hold each other hostage. All those interviewed felt that this shows how broken down the oversight structure is because there is no leadership direction. They also pointed out that for the last five years there has not been an authorization bill passed. A former CIA official noted that both Feinstein and Pelosi “are doing the country a disservice and are harming the country. This is just irresponsible on their parts.”
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden summed it up best when he commented that Pelosi’s provisions are unnecessary because “historically we have found that [the current arrangement] has been a good way to protect sensitive information and keep members of Congress informed. These provisions create more second guessing and are bad ideas.”