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| Hoekstra believes Kappes leaked to undermine Bush & more |
| 2006-07-09 |
| from May 18 2006 pdf letter from Peter Hoekstra to George Bush. Typing errors mine. HT Just One Minute First I am concerned that the nominations for Director and Deputiy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency signal a retreat from needed reforms of the Agency. I understand that Mr. Kappes is a capable, well-qualified and well-liked former Directorate of Operations (DO) case officer. I am heartened by the professional qualities he would bring to the job, but am concerned by what could be the political problems that he could bring back to the agency. There has been much public and private speculation about the politicization of the Agency. I am convinced that this politicization was underway well before Porter Goss became the Director. In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group withing the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and its policies. This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plame events, as well as by the string of unauthoried disclosures from an organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets. I have come to the belief that, despite his service to the DO, Mr. Kappes may have been part of this group. I must take note when my Democratic colleagues - those who so vehemently demounced and publicly attacked the strong choice of Porter Goss as Director now publicly support Mr. Kappe's return. The fact is, Mr Kappes and his Deputy, Mr. Sulick, were developing a communications offensive to bypass the Intelligence Committee and the CIA's own Office of Congressional Affairs. Second, I am concerned that the Administration is not implementiong the carefully defined role of the DNI we worked so hard to draft. My view for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was, and remains, one of a lean, coordinating function that provides "corporate" leadership to the individually high-fidelity intelligence agencies - "corporate divisions" if you will. This vision does not include the DNI "doing" things so much a sthe DNI "making sure things get done' by the agencies. I am concerned that the current implementation is creating a large, bureaucratic, and hierarchical structure that will be less flexible and agile than our adversaries. Our Fiscal Year 2007 authorization bill fences a number of the new positions at the DNI because of the concerns about this growing bureaucracy. I have learned about some alleged Intelligence Community activities about which our committee has not been briefed. If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsitility by the Administration, a violation of law, and just as importantly, a direct affront to me as the Members of this committee. I've shared these thoughts with the Speaker, and he concurs with my concerns. Regrettablly, there are other issued that need to be discussed. What I've provided here are the most pressing. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |