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Liberty Star
07-09-2009, 09:51 PM
It can't be waterboarding, that was not a secret. What could it be that they felt the need to hide even from Congressional Intelligence Committee?



Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute
Democrats Accuse Agency of Pattern of Withholding Information From Lawmakers

By Paul Kane and Ben Pershing
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 10, 2009

Four months after he was sworn in, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta learned of an intelligence program that had been hidden from Congress since 2001, a revelation that prompted him to immediately cancel the initiative and schedule a pair of closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.

The next day, June 24, Panetta informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the program and the action he had taken, according to Democratic and Republican members of the panels.



Thursday, July 9, 2009, 1:29 PM

Eshoo calls for probe of covert CIA program

Says eight-year-old program was never disclosed to Congress

by Chris Kenrick
Palo Alto Online Staff

U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, Thursday called for an investigation of a covert CIA program that she said ran from 2001 to June 2009 without Congressional knowledge.

CIA Director Leon Panetta informed the House Intelligence Committee June 24 that he had just learned of the eight-year-old secret program, which had never been disclosed to Congress, Eshoo said. Panetta told the committee that he ordered an end to the program as soon as he heard about it, she said.

Eshoo, who sits on the Intelligence Committee, said the program is "highly classified" and declined to disclose any details about it.

"The committee was actually stunned," Eshoo told Joe Scarborough, host of the "Morning Joe" program on MSNBC.

Eshoo's remarks followed her release Wednesday of a June 26 letter she wrote Panetta asking him to "publicly correct" his May 15 statement that "it is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and values." The letter was cosigned by six of Eshoo's 12 Democratic colleagues on the Intelligence Committee.

Failure to disclose the secret program, Eshoo said, "flies in the face of that in a very, very serious way. They simply do not want to acknowledge that the Congress was not fully informed. And they have an obligation under the National Security Act of 1947 in a timely way to inform Congress. So this is as serious as it gets.






http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070903017.html?hpid=topnews

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=13011

Liberty Star
07-09-2009, 10:09 PM
July 8th, 2009

Someone at the CIA lied and Congress is not happy


Someone lied about something at the CIA, that much is clear.

Members of the House Intelligence Committee are not happy about it, that is also clear.

But the actual offense and who committed it was apparently discussed behind closed doors and cannot be revealed publicly which has led to a cryptic dance in statements from members of Congress and the CIA.

It’s worth mentioning that the CIA actually makes a living telling lies overseas to secure secrets for U.S. national security purposes. But the spy agency prides itself on telling truth to power at home.

So let’s see if we can wind our way through what is known so far to see where the pieces fit in the puzzle of shadows.

Six Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sent CIA Director Leon Panetta a letter dated June 26 that said “recently you testified that you have determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week. This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods.”

http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2009/07/08/someone-at-the-cia-lied-and-congress-is-not-happy/


As Congress controls budgets for various agencies, this may not end here if all these reports are factual.

tangent4ronpaul
07-09-2009, 11:27 PM
I'm guessing a "hit team".

-t

idirtify
07-09-2009, 11:56 PM
"A covert CIA program, illegal because of its nature and because it was not disclosed to Congress, WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED." :confused:

idirtify
07-10-2009, 12:02 AM
I'm guessing a "hit team".

-t

A "hit team" that was very busy on 9-11-01?

tangent4ronpaul
07-10-2009, 12:04 AM
A "hit team" that was very busy on 9-11-01?

We are talking "This would be a lot easier if I was dictator" Bush here....

BTW: the intel community was really ramping up efforts on counter-terrorism since at least 97 or 98. 9/11 was not unexpected - though the specific action might have been.

-t

Kraig
07-10-2009, 08:44 AM
Does anyone really believe there is only one CIA program hidden from congress?

idirtify
07-10-2009, 08:52 AM
Does anyone really believe there is only one CIA program hidden from congress?

I’m not a religious person but I have great faith that many dark secrets exist within our government.

I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! AMEN!

sratiug
07-10-2009, 10:29 AM
Interesting

Athan
07-10-2009, 10:46 AM
A "hit team" that was very busy on 9-11-01?

Shush... or you'll be next. :cool:

Liberty Star
07-10-2009, 12:40 PM
News reports have upgraded the program description to "very very serious" :


By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer Pamela Hess, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 11 mins ago

WASHINGTON – CIA Director Leon Panetta has terminated a "very serious" covert program the spy agency kept secret from Congress for eight years, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a House Intelligence subcommittee chairwoman, said Friday.

Schakowsky is pressing for an immediate committee investigation of the classified program, which has not been described publicly. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has said he is considering an investigation.

"The program is a very, very serious program and certainly deserved a serious debate at the time and through the years," Schakowsky told The Associated Press in an interview. "But now it's over."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congress_secret_briefings


Why keep causing all this tax payers curiosity about some "very very serious" covert program they were funding without even their top ranking reps knowing about it and public would probably never know what it was?

Great mixture of press and freedom.

Imperial
07-10-2009, 01:30 PM
The dirty little secret you aren't supposed to know is that the Intelligence committees in Congress don't have much authority over the CIA when it comes down to it. There have only been a couple exceptions, and even with exceptions there are always loopholes.

Read a good CIA history and you'll start getting scared. I really feel bad for Somalia, Afghanistan, Congo, and Chile after what we have done to them, among others.

(Ironicallly, I once arguied a socialist who continually claimed that Afghanistan, Somalia, and Congo were all examples of anarcho-capitalism in action, when it was government that started the problems via the CIA [although Im not an an-cap])

Aratus
07-10-2009, 02:11 PM
the CIA traditionally does not do domestic surveilance or do things domestically that are the
traditional perogatives of our FBI. if the decision was made to turn the CIA onto things domestic
or to act in a manner as to eclipse the FBI, and this could involve surveilance and worse of
U.S citizens, this could and would be highly illegal if it threatens our BILL OF RIGHTS. i think the
CIA was acting if both the FBI and NSA were "chopped liver" or even cold war relic dinosaurs...

Liberty Star
07-10-2009, 05:20 PM
Informative commentary guys. When people are in shaken emotional state as was the case 6-7 years ago, any thing can be instituted by an administration that is willing to exploit the political conditions.

By the way, does anyone think this "very serious covert program" could become public in foreseeable future considering publicity this unnamed program has already received and ongoing political battles?

tangent4ronpaul
07-11-2009, 01:15 AM
Has anyone taken a look at who is on the House Intelligence Committee?

2/3rds are dems
1/2 come from the top 5-10 most socialist states in our country.

Has anyone looked at their voting records and asked if, in general, their votes have benefited the USA more or China?

-t