WH Chief of Staff nixed congressional
domestic spying briefing
Yahoo News/Reuters
By David Morgan
February 21, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top intelligence official was prepared to brief the
House of Representatives intelligence committee about President George W.
Bush's domestic spying program last December but was stopped by White House
Chief of Staff Andy Card, a leading House Democrat said on Tuesday.
Rep. Jane Harman of California, ranking Democrat on the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, said she and fellow Democrats on the panel
sought a briefing from deputy U.S. intelligence chief, Air Force Gen. Michael
Hayden, soon after Bush confirmed the existence of the surveillance
program.
"Gen. Hayden said he was prepared to brief the full committee but our
request was disapproved by White House Chief of Staff Andy Card," Harman said
in a statement issued by her office.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said she was not aware of any
conversations about a possible intelligence briefing in December. A spokeswoman
for Hayden declined to comment.
But Harman's remarks could suggest a previously undisclosed readiness by top
intelligence officials to speak about the secret program with a broader
audience of lawmakers.
The administration has fully briefed only eight lawmakers in the House and
Senate about the program's operations up to now, saying wider disclosure could
pose security risks.
Bush acknowledged publicly on December 17 that he authorized the National
Security Agency after the September 11 attacks to eavesdrop without a court
warrant on international telephone calls and e-mails between Americans and
others suspected of ties with al Qaeda.
The program has raised concerns among Democrats and some Republicans that
Bush may have overstepped his constitutional authority and even violated
federal law by not briefing the full House and Senate intelligence panels about
the operation.
Two weeks ago, the White House bowed to mounting pressure in Congress and
provided some details of the eavesdropping program to the full House and Senate
intelligence committees.
But the White House has also pressed Republican lawmakers to stave off calls
for full congressional investigations.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has put off until March 7 a vote
sought by Democrats that would authorize such an inquiry. House Republicans
have also clashed over the need for Congress to undertake a full-scale
probe.
Perino said the White House was open to ideas in Congress, particularly a
proposal by Republican Sen. Mike DeWine (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio to
create special House and Senate intelligence subcommittees to oversee the
program's operations.
"The administration has signaled that it is now shifting course. A senior
White House official told me this weekend that it is important to put the
program on solid legal footing and improve congressional oversight," Harman
said.
"This is welcome news, but it is not a substitute for fully briefing the
committees on the operations of the program."
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick)
|