Lawmakers Say They Were Left Out of Spy Overhaul
By SIOBHAN GORMAN August 1, 2008 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121754869604102729.html?mod=world_news_whats _news WASHINGTON -- The White House's intelligence-agency overhaul drew immediate fire Thursday from lawmakers in both parties, who complained that the administration sidelined Congress while it crafted the largest rewrite of spy powers in decades. [Chart] <http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-AR684A_SPY_20080731215622.gif> Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, walked out of the panel's classified meeting with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to protest what he charged was the administration's decision not to consult Congress as it revised the Reagan-era executive order. Other Republicans also left the meeting, while three remained for the full briefing. A White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said the administration "routinely consulted with members of Congress and their staff as we developed revisions" to the executive order. The updated spy powers, which President George W. Bush released on Thursday, give the intelligence director a stronger hand in ordering analyses, hiring and firing agency leaders and managing the acquisition of expensive programs such as new spy satellites. They also spell out, for the first time, the oversight and policy responsibilities of the intelligence director and the National Security Council regarding covert action, which will still be carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency. The overhaul "will have a real and lasting effect, fostering a true intelligence community," Mr. McConnell said in a statement. The 2004 legislation that created the intelligence-director post gave it budget and hiring authorities, but left some key powers vague. That has led to endless debate in Washington over how much power the director really has. The rewrite of the executive order, in the wake of several post-9/11 intelligence-reform efforts, sought to settle some of those debates. The order, first issued in 1981 as Executive Order 12333, is viewed as the bible of the 16 intelligence agencies, defining the authorities of each one relative to the others. The revision of the order, which Mr. McConnell launched about a year ago, prompted a series of fights among agencies that feared changes to their authority would eat away at their power. On Thursday, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, in a memo to CIA employees, called the revisions "a positive step." But the revised order does insert the intelligence director into activities the CIA used to control. For example, it gives the intelligence director responsibility for developing policy governing relationships with foreign intelligence services, which had been primarily a CIA role. Now, the CIA will implement the policy the intelligence director sets. On Capitol Hill, Rep. Hoekstra said he was told by intelligence officials that Mr. McConnell wanted to get Congress involved but the White House wouldn't let him. Congressional staff received their first briefing a week ago and didn't see the order until Wednesday. "They have a total disdain for Congress," Rep. Hoekstra said in an interview. "As far as this administration is concerned, the best oversight is no oversight." If the revised order sought to bring administration policy in line with the 2004 intelligence reform bill, the administration ought to have solicited congressional input, said Mr. Hoekstra, a key drafter of that bill. He said the White House's approach to this executive order is just the latest in a series of snubs to Congress on national security, including belated briefings on Israeli bombing of an alleged Syrian nuclear facility and the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes. As for the substance of the new order, Rep. Hoekstra said he doesn't think the rewrite gives the intelligence director enough muscle to run U.S. intelligence. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D., Texas), chairman of the House intelligence committee, who also supports the goals of the rewrite, echoed Rep. Hoekstra's concerns. "I am deeply disappointed that the president did not seek congressional or public input into this document." In the Senate, reaction was mixed. West Virginia Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the intelligence panel, wasn't bothered by the minimal congressional involvement. The rewrite made few changes to the civil-liberties components of the 1981 order, and administration officials said they sought to bolster privacy protections where possible. For example, the attorney general, rather than the intelligence director, is primarily responsible for overseeing the collection of intelligence in the U.S. But civil-liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union are nonetheless concerned that elements of the order expand the domestic reach of intelligence agencies. "The most chilling aspect of this executive order is that the director of national intelligence can task any agency of the government to spy on you," said ACLU Washington director Caroline Frederickson. The ACLU points to provisions that permit the intelligence director to ask non-intelligence agencies to gather information for the director. Another provision could be read to permit local governments and private companies to ask the intelligence agencies to collect information on their behalf. Other government watchdogs said the new order appeared to guard civil liberties more than they had expected. Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said he was relieved. "I didn't see the trashing of the previous framework that I feared," he said. Write to Siobhan Gorman at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] Overhaul Elevates Intelligence Director By SIOBHAN GORMAN July 31, 2008; Page A3 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121746456551398575.html The White House is expected Thursday to unveil the largest overhaul of intelligence powers in a generation, spelling out the responsibilities of each intelligence agency in the wake of several reforms following the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to government officials familiar with the plans. [George Bush] <http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GF294_Bush_20060320154605.gif> President George W. Bush signed the executive order updating spy powers Wednesday, the officials said. Designed to bolster the power of the director of national intelligence, the revision has been a source of significant turf battles among intelligence agencies, which fear the rewrite of spy powers is coming at their expense. Congress created the intelligence director's post as part of a series of intelligence reforms in 2004, but the extent of his authority has been a constant source of debate among intelligence officials and lawmakers. The overhaul gives the intelligence director a greater role in hiring and firing agency heads, authority to remove barriers to intelligence sharing, and the responsibility for overseeing the acquisition of expensive programs such as new spy satellites, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. It also hands the intelligence director more power to direct midlevel intelligence officers. The revised order also gives the director the responsibility for developing policy governing relationships with foreign intelligence services, which had been handled primarily by the Central Intelligence Agency. Under the updated order, the CIA would be in charge of implementing the policy set by the intelligence director. [Michael McConnell] <http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GJ300_McConn_20070107051648.gif > The order "clearly puts the [director of national intelligence] in charge," said Rep. Jane Harman (D., Calif.). The order "makes it harder for the intelligence-community agencies to resist" directives from the spy chief, added Rep. Harman, who was briefed Wednesday on the revised order. She helped craft the 2004 law that created the new intelligence-director post. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has been working on the rewrite for at least a year. Even after the intensive turf battles, intelligence officials said Wednesday that they were committed to working within the new rules. Mr. McConnell's office referred questions to the White House, where spokesman Stuart Siciliano declined to comment. The rewrite, which updates a Reagan-era policy, aims to bring spy powers in line with not only the creation of the director of national intelligence, but also a new law revising surveillance powers that was enacted this month. The revised order states that the new law will be the only law that governs surveillance, in an attempt to quell the concerns of lawmakers who contend that Mr. Bush ignored the law when he authorized a warrantless-spying program after the Sept. 11 attacks. It largely steered clear of prickly civil-liberties issues, according to officials briefed on the matter. The most significant change gives the attorney general a greater role in overseeing all domestic intelligence activities, which intelligence officials cast as an enhancement of privacy. The revised order says covert action will be run by the National Security Council at the White House, carried out by the CIA and overseen by the intelligence director. Some on Capitol Hill were frustrated that the administration kept Congress in the dark on this historic overhaul. "They did not consult Congress at all," said one congressional official. Write to Siobhan Gorman at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
