What Is It Mike Hayden Doesn't Understand about Heat and Kitchens?
October 12, 2007
C.I.A. Internal Inquiry Troubling, Lawmakers Say
By MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 — Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees expressed concern today about an unusual inquiry into the work of the Central Intelligence Agency’s inspector general, John L. Helgerson, saying that it could undermine his role as independent watchdog.
The inquiry was ordered by General Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director. Representative Silvestre Reyes, the Texas Democrat who is chairman of the House committee, called news of the inquiry “troubling,” noting that the inspector general’s independence is written into law.
“It is this independence that Congress established and will very aggressively preserve,” Mr. Reyes said in a statement.
. . . Some current and former agency officials said such an inquiry was improper, because it could be viewed as an attempt by General Hayden to influence continuing investigations of agency programs. A spokesman for General …