Senators Left Out of Loop Make Their Pique Known - New York Times

Senators Left Out of Loop Make Their Pique Known - New York Times:

That did not appear to satisfy Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine. Earlier in the day she had complained that the small number of lawmakers who were briefed before Wednesday were "handcuffed" because they were not permitted to share information with colleagues.

"The notification to a very limited group — they could do nothing much with that information, essentially — is not the kind of checks and balances that I think our founding fathers had in mind," Ms. Snowe said.

The hearing put General Hayden in an awkward position. President Bush has tried to keep secret the details of the eavesdropping, in which the security agency monitored, without seeking court warrants, the international communications of those suspected of having links to terrorists. Yet White House officials keep getting dragged into talking about the program, especially in the effort to get General Hayden confirmed.

So the nominee was forced to explore ever more novel ways of saying no comment as senators, mostly Democrats, pressed him to go public with details.

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"'General,' Mr. Wyden said, 'if we had not read about the warrantless wiretapping program in The New York Times last December, would 14 of the 16 members of this Senate Intelligence Committee ever have heard about this program in a way consistent with national security?'

'Senator,' the general replied, 'I simply have no way of answering that question. I don't know.'

Moments later, Mr. Roberts jumped in to say he had been briefed on '13 occasions, along with the vice president and the leadership of the Congress.'

'You might think we're not independent,' Mr. Roberts said. 'I am independent. And I asked very tough questions.'

But when the session was over, Mr. Wyden remained in a state of pique.

'The fact of the matter is that for years, a significant majority of the Senate Intelligence Committee had to get a good clipping service about programs that are all over the newspaper,' he said. 'My line is: What do I know? I'm only on the Intelligence Committee.'"