Posted on 02/02/2006 10:50:14 AM PST by SkyPilot
WASHINGTON - CIA Director Porter Goss said Thursday that the disclosure of President Bush's eavesdropping-without-warrants program and other once-secret projects had undermined U.S. intelligence-gathering abilities.
"The damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission," Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said a federal grand jury should be empaneled to determine "who is leaking this information."
His testimony came after National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, who directs all intelligence activities, strongly defended the program, calling it crucial for protecting the nation against its most menacing threat.
"This was not about domestic surveillance," Negroponte said.
Leaders of the nation's intelligence agencies appeared before the panel in a rare public session to give a rundown on threats facing the world.
Negroponte called al-Qaida and associated terror groups the "top concern" of the U.S. intelligence community, followed closely by the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea.
Committee Democrats sought to change the focus to the president's decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop — without first obtaining warrants — on communications to and from those in the United States and terror suspects abroad.
"The president has not only confirmed the existence of the program, he has spoken at length about it repeatedly," while keeping Congress in the dark, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the panel's senior Democrat.
"The administration wants to have it both ways," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich.
Goss complained that leaks to the news media about the surveillance program and activities such as reported CIA secret prisons abroad had damaged his own agency's work.
CIA Director Porter Goss, and FBI Director Robert Mueller, right, talk as they prepare for the U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence hearing to examine the world threat, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Email Photo Print Photo
"I use the words `very severe' intentionally. And I think the evidence will show that," Goss said.
He said not only have these revelations made it harder for the CIA to gather information, but they have made intelligence agencies in other countries mistrustful of their U.S. counterparts.
"I'm stunned to the quick when I get questions from my professional counterparts saying, `Mr. Goss, can't you Americans keep a secret?'" he said.
Goss cited a "disruption to our plans, things that we have under way." Some CIA sources and "assets" had been rendered "no longer viable or usable, or less effective by a large degree," he said.
"I also believe that there has been an erosion of the culture of secrecy and we're trying to reinstall that," Goss said.
"I've called in the FBI, the Department of Justice. It is my aim and it is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present, being asked to reveal who is leaking this information," he said.
Rockefeller suggested that the "leaks" Goss talked about most likely "came from the executive branch" of the government.
That brought a terse response from FBI Director Robert Mueller, who said, "It's not fair to point a finger as to the responsibility of the leak."
Well I have now seen about the first hour and maybe the last hour....hopefully there will be another replay so I can catch the middle....
Had to catch a ride with my Son to get some grub and monthly prescriptions......pharmacy was having trouble with getting one of them....
pharmacy was having trouble with getting one of them....
I was a pharmacy technician, I understand and know what you are going through.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...perhaps old Leaky Leahy's mouth got him into trouble he couldn't get out of.
Really karmic.
I am now listening to Rockefeller's opening statement...what a sniveling coward. If this is how he feels about the program then why didn't he challenge it immediately? Why did he sit on it until it was leaked? There is only one conclusion...there is no line the Democrats won't cross for political purposes.
Thanks, didn't realize C-SPAN was replaying it again!
Can't we just ignore completely the democrats? They're trying to change the agenda and we absolutely should not let them.
Thanks for the link. I cannot believe the NY Slimes allowed this quote in their article. It speaks the truth towards the Demonrats treasonous activity:
"But none of the Republicans on the panel joined the Democrats in their criticism. And in a statement issued later, Senator Pat Roberts, the Kansas Republican who is chairman of the committee, accused Mr. Rockefeller and other Democrats of derailing the discussion about security threats with their concerns about the eavesdropping program.
I am concerned that some of my Democrat colleagues used this unique public forum to make clear that they believe the gravest threat we face is not Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, but rather the president of the United States," Mr. Roberts said. "There is no doubt in my mind there are marching orders to the minority members of this committee to question and attack, at every opportunity, the president, the vice president, the secretary of state, attorney general and now members of our intelligence agencies."
Think about all the people who have worked so hard to try and protect us and their hard work is rewarded with leaks by those who are frustrated with their inablility to win elections. Plame and Burger didn't affect our safety...this does.
Thousands of man hours and trust built between us and our allies went down the toilet with two big leaks. These traitors can't step back from their hatred of Bush and their own impotence long enough to see the American people would rather thwart a terrorist attack than pay with their lives for a cheap political 'gotcha' scheme between the dem media and dem political machine.
We don't know what the damage has been except it isn't 'imagined' or 'hoped for' like the attempts have been to undermine Bush and his administration--it will cause the NSA and other effective anti-terrorist programs to try and almost start from scratch again.
Those reporters won't last long in jail and it will come to that if they don't reveal their sources. My hope is that some more of the rat's nest in the CIA of both current and past members gets cleaned out and anyone in Congress that was involved are exposed. The New York Times will just continue to become more and more irrelevant if that's possible.
Senator Rocket Fella!
The RATS are guilty.
If the investigators followed "best practices" during an investigation into national security leaks, then your's is an easy winner.
Wouldn't a completely secret investigation and trial be appropriate in a case like this? Or does an incident of leaking and loss of secrecy necessarily need to be followed by even more leaking and losses of secrecy to satisfy your desire for punishment?
Didn't the AG announce an investigation a few weeks ago...since then..complete silence...a no-leak environment..which is the way is should be..
Those marching orders probably come from the super elite lefties who own and control the MSM and from their buddy, George $oreA$$.
I've been lurking at DU...their reply to this story???
""The damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission"
"Interpretation:
It is difficult to keep spying illegally on United States Citizens and getting away with it."
Ugh.....will they EVER get it?
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