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| Government |
| White House criticized for not filling watchdog post at CIA |
| 2015-08-05 |
| [Michael Isikoff - Yahoo] The Obama administration has not floated any names of a possible nominee for CIA inspector general, behavior one analyst calls "discouraging." More than six months after the CIA inspector general resigned, President Obama has yet to nominate a replacement, prompting mounting concerns on Capitol Hill that the delay may be affecting sensitive internal investigations -- including a probe into an errant drone strike in Pakistan that killed American hostage Warren Weinstein, sources told Yahoo News. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in June urged Obama in a letter to nominate a new inspector general "as soon as possible," so a Senate-confirmed official can oversee what she described as "highly sensitive investigations of interest to the committee." But the White House has yet to even respond to the letter, or float any names of a possible nominee, another indicator of what watchdog groups say is a troubling resistance on the administration's part to aggressive oversight and accountability throughout the government, but especially within the intelligence community. "This is extremely significant ... and it's discouraging," said Steve Aftergood, an analyst who tracks U.S. intelligence agencies for the Federation of American Scientists. "The inspectors general at the intelligence agencies are even more important than [at] other agencies because the majority of their work is classified -- and so they don't get the same kind of oversight as elsewhere in the government. The [intelligence agency] inspectors general have also been the eyes and ears for Congress, so without a strong IG in place, the oversight committees are at least partially blinded." Inspectors general serve as internal watchdogs at government agencies, charged with investigating reports of malfeasance and mismanagement, including complaints filed by whistleblowers. Champ's handlers need no Inspector General, he's got Brennan. A "partially blind oversight committee" is the desired end state. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #4 Well, I can see right thru them. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-08-05 17:27 |
| #3 "The most transparent administration ever". |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2015-08-05 15:33 |
| #2 The [intelligence agency] inspectors general have also been the eyes and ears for REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED Congress, so without a strong IG in place, the oversight committees are at least partially blinded." FIFY |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2015-08-05 09:24 |
| #1 The problem with watchdogs is they bark until they wake somebody up. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-08-05 07:25 |