Murky Intelligence on Obama's Intel Picks

By James Gordon Meek

Over at the New York Daily News' Mouth of the Potomac Blog, we've been studying the signs pointing to who will run U.S. spy agencies in the Obama administration. The scattered chicken bones tell us Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell can’t retire to South Carolina soon enough. Good thing, too, because reports suggest he’ll be replaced by retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair.

CIA Director Michael Hayden may have been disappointed at the prospect of having to box up his suite at Langley, but ABC News reported he rallied by clicking with the President-elect during secret intel briefings - and may stay on.

“That’s what we’re hearing,” a Democratic operative steeped in national security affairs told me on Friday.

Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have strongly advocated the elevation of Hayden’s popular deputy, career CIA case officer and ex-Marine Steve Kappes - if not immediately, he might succeed Hayden later, they say.

Team Obama has not sent many smoke signals, beyond apparently caving to the whims of liberal bloggers. The transition’s intelligence adviser John Brennan recently withdrew from consideration for a top intel post amid some bloggers’ absurd claims that the waterboarding critic was secretly an ardent supporter of torture while serving in top CIA posts under ex-Director George Tenet. Other bloggers questioned the accusations but Brennan was evidently doomed regardless.

If Hayden sticks around, it’s an incredible political achievement for the retired four-star Air Force general. On the Hill, some lawmakers have been setting fires under a CIA boss they deem too close to controversial Team Bush counterterror policies - while others tried to douse them.

On Nov. 13, Congressional Quarterly reporters Keith Perine and Tim Starks quoted incoming Senate Intelligence Committeee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) saying, “My view is that it’s time for a new start.”

But last week, Hayden loyalists leapt at remarks by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.), who stated flatly that he wanted Hayden and McConnell to stay put - at least until Obama is sworn in.

“I made a recommendation that they stay on during the transition so that there would be a period of time that there would be overlap,” Reyes told Congress Daily’s Chris Strohm in an interview.

If Hayden stays, it’s interesting that Obama would dis the wishes of the incoming Intelligence Committee chairman. The Senate, not the House, has the power to confirm presidential appointees such as the DNI and CIA director. Hayden would not need to be reconfirmed if he stayed on, but the Senate carries heft because of its “advise and consent” authority.

In any case, Obama is vacationing in Hawaii through the holidays, so the answer will likely come late in the year if not in January.

TrackBack