Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Call for Investigation of C.I.A. Watchdog’s Work
By SCOTT SHANE and MARK MAZZETTI
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 — The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee joined Democrats on Friday in expressing strong concern about an unusual inquiry into the work of the Central Intelligence Agency’s inspector general, John L. Helgerson, saying the review could undermine Mr. Helgerson’s role as independent watchdog.
The inquiry was ordered by the C.I.A. director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, in response to complaints about aggressive investigations by Mr. Helgerson’s office into the agency’s counterterrorism programs.
“The C.I.A. has a track record of resisting accountability,” Senator Christopher S. Bond, the Missouri Republican who is the committee’s vice chairman, said in a statement.
Mr. Bond said the inspector general had done “great work,” adding, “I will be watching carefully to make sure that nothing is done to restrain or diminish that important office.”
The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that General Hayden had directed a small team of top agency officials to examine Mr. Helgerson’s performance.
The team is led by Robert L. Deitz, a close aide to General Hayden at the C.I.A. who also served under him as general counsel of the National Security Agency. Mr. Deitz agreed before Friday’s news reports to brief the Senate and House Intelligence Committees next week about the inquiry, officials said Friday.
Some current and former agency officials said the inquiry was improper because it could be viewed as an effort to influence investigations. Mr. Helgerson is finishing several reports on detention, including one on the practice of seizing terrorism suspects and delivering them to foreign prisons, officials who have followed his work said.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 — The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee joined Democrats on Friday in expressing strong concern about an unusual inquiry into the work of the Central Intelligence Agency’s inspector general, John L. Helgerson, saying the review could undermine Mr. Helgerson’s role as independent watchdog.
The inquiry was ordered by the C.I.A. director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, in response to complaints about aggressive investigations by Mr. Helgerson’s office into the agency’s counterterrorism programs.
“The C.I.A. has a track record of resisting accountability,” Senator Christopher S. Bond, the Missouri Republican who is the committee’s vice chairman, said in a statement.
Mr. Bond said the inspector general had done “great work,” adding, “I will be watching carefully to make sure that nothing is done to restrain or diminish that important office.”
The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that General Hayden had directed a small team of top agency officials to examine Mr. Helgerson’s performance.
The team is led by Robert L. Deitz, a close aide to General Hayden at the C.I.A. who also served under him as general counsel of the National Security Agency. Mr. Deitz agreed before Friday’s news reports to brief the Senate and House Intelligence Committees next week about the inquiry, officials said Friday.
Some current and former agency officials said the inquiry was improper because it could be viewed as an effort to influence investigations. Mr. Helgerson is finishing several reports on detention, including one on the practice of seizing terrorism suspects and delivering them to foreign prisons, officials who have followed his work said.
(Continued here.)
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