July 11, 2009
Cheney Linked to Concealing CIA Project
New York Times: Former Vice President Ordered CIA to Withhold Information on Counterterrorism Project from Congress
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CIA Director Leon Panetta and Former Vice President Dick Cheney. (AP)
Agency director Leon Panetta, who ended the program when he learned of its existence on June 23, briefed Senate and House intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day, according to the Times.
The question of how completely the CIA informed Congress about sensitive programs comes a day after a report was issued by a team of U.S. inspectors general which called the surveillance program in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks "unprecedented." The report also questioned the program's legal rationale and the excessive secrecy that enshrouded it.
The details of the wider surveillance program described by the federal investigative report remain classified. The program included the wiretapping of American phone and computer lines and was intended to detect communications from the al Qaeda terrorist network. That was revealed by the New York Times in 2005 and later confirmed by then-President George W. Bush.
Several Democratic members of the House and Senate expressed surprise and concern Friday about the still-secret surveillance program.
Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden asserted that just weeks after Bush approved the activity, senior Republicans and Democrats on the intelligence committees in the House and Senate started getting briefed regularly on its details. He said these sessions happened about four times a year. Hayden also said the number of lawmakers informed was intentionally kept small because the program was highly classified.
On occasion, he said, the briefing audience was expanded to include top members of the House and Senate leadership as well.
Hayden also said that the members of Congress who were briefed were told the average daily level of surveillance activity and the cumulative activity since the program started. And he said the meetings nearly always occurred at the White House, with Vice President Dick Cheney in attendance.
The Bush surveillance program has been contentious since it was first revealed, raising concerns about the extent of secret activities undertaken since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and the potential violation of civil liberties. Indeed, the report released Friday said that most of the information gathered under the wider program ultimately did not have any connection to terrorism.
It was so secret that few members of Bush's inner circle were "read in" on the program. Even John Ashcroft, who was attorney general at the time, got an accurate description of one surveillance activity only two years after he first certified it as legal. And his initial request to brief his chief of staff and deputy on the program were refused by the White House.
Just what those activities involved remains classified, but the report released Friday pointedly said that any continued use of the information gathered in the secret programs must be "carefully monitored."
Bush authorized the warrantless wiretapping program under the authority of a secret court in 2006, and Congress approved most of the intercepts in a 2008 electronic surveillance law. The fate of the remaining and still-classified aspects of the wider surveillance program is not clear from the report.
In the interview Saturday, Hayden called the program extremely valuable and said that it served as an early warning system to help prevent further al Qaeda attacks.
Some members of Congress are calling for a full independent inquiry and others are urging further congressional investigations.
Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, told The AP Friday that she was shocked by the report. She said she asked former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales - after the wiretapping was revealed in 2005 - whether the government was conducting any other undisclosed intelligence activities. She said he told her there were no additional operations.
Robert Bork Jr., Gonzales' spokesman, said Friday: "It has clearly been determined that he did not intend to mislead anyone."
In a separate but related move, House Democrats are pressing for legislation that would expand congressional access to secret intelligence briefings. The Obama administration has threatened to veto it over concerns about protecting secrecy.
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 367 CommentsHungry...I don't even argue with these extremists neo-con mental midgets anymore. They are all Rushbots as slow or gravy said a page or two back.
Republicans are like an old LP with a scratch and every time you try to play it it just repeats the same thing over and over again. Republicans are stuck in their ideology which is way passe. But because they love their party more than this country, like the LP, they just repeat the same old song and dance over and over and over and over and over again.
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Stuart, you are just an left-wing extremist.....America is turning away from your brand of extremism and will be eagerly welcoming republicans back into office in 2010-2012.....this dictatorship is taxing and spending their way right out of office.....good to see
On occasion, he said, the briefing audience was expanded to include top members of the House and Senate leadership as well.
Hayden also said that the members of Congress who were briefed were told the average daily level of surveillance activity and the cumulative activity since the program started. And he said the meetings nearly always occurred at the White House, with Vice President Dick Cheney in attendance."
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This could be a problem, if it can be substantiated, for the people who were present.
ladypirate- Sooo how are things in Somalia?
I'm not in Somalia! I'm an American and I live right here in the United States! I call myself ladypirate because I support my local football team who are called the Pirates!
ladypirate...
Before you post, it might be a good idea to check into some FACTS.
The most blaring fact you have neglected is that it is ILLEGAL for the CIA to act WITHIN the USA. Their charter expressly forbids this activity, though other agencies are not prohibited.
Another more debatable, but still factual point you ignore is that the CIA can legally keep certain details of their activity secret from the Congress members they are required to brief, thus certain "top secret" information remains only available to the agency and the Executive branch.
If some big mouthed congressman reported classified information to the media, he or she would be feeding that mouth with food served in a federal prison. This is why we still don't know exactly what classified program is being discussed in this article.
Do you think Obama should go to prison? He reported top secret CIA activities in Guantanamo Bay! Therefore he did exactly what you're saying that the congressmen and Bush and Cheney should be sent to prison for! I think you have a double standard! When you think a republican reports top secret CIA activities, according to you, they should be sent to prison but what about when a democrat like the president does the same thing?
"Former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to withhold information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years"
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The non-transparent, secret fascist dictatorship of the bush/cheney cabal is finally being exposed for the corrupt criminals most of us knew they were!
Only you bushevik lovers of the EVIL dirty dickie cheney are still making sorry excuses for the power-hungry, corrupt criminals the vast majority of Americans saw the bush/cheney treasonous WAR CRIMINALS as.
Time for America to get back on the right path with WAR CRIMES trials for all the treasonous busheviks, and public hangings for those found guilty of crimes against our great nation like dirty dickie!
Just like I told someone else in this comment board, don't hold your breath until it happens!
America as a whole went to war, not just Bush/Cheney....and....your democrat leaders stated the same things as Bush did, but years before the Iraq war....should they persue the democrats who called for Saddam's removal ?
If I tell someone to jump off a bridge and they do, I'm hardly to blame.
Some of you, here, will stop at nothing to damage our country, our safety and our freedom including siding with barbaric killers.
You are right! Obama is a security risk because he has a BIG MOUTH! He runs his mouth about everything!
The problem is the MEDIA! They can't keep their mouths shut! For some reason they seem to feel the necessity in printing everything he says and does. They were bad before, but they are even worse now.
In Nixon's time, having a paranoid old fart who liked to dress up as a woman in charge of the FBI helped Nixon a lot in getting info on anyone he didn't like or trust.
8 years ago, you had the same sort of people in power and the same thing happening, only on a lot larger scale and under the pretext of "homeland security".
Let's face it everyone! The government has been and WILL BE collecting info on YOU forever. George Orwell says it best in "1984!": BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!!!!!!!!!
HAIL OBAMA????????
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