IMHO, the Congress has known about this for a long time as well. I remember the disturbed looks on most faces after top secret breifings.
The Dems banked on this never getting out and were hoping to use their hearings to control the flow of info to the public for purely political purposes.
The great thing about the timing is it will take the jazz out of Hill's trip to Iowa. What's she gonna do? Make it worse for the Dems by continuing the spin or talk about the economy?