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NEWS ABOUT: Senate Intelligence Committee

Lawmakers Describe 'Gruesome' Osama Photos

'He's dead. He's gone ,' Sen. Inhofe says

(Newser) - The first lawmakers invited to see photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse say the gruesome photos are definite proof that the terrorist is dead. "That was him," Sen. Jim Inhofe, told CNN . "He is gone. He's history." The Republican says he saw 15 photos... More »

Senators to View bin Laden Death Photos

Raid intel providing new leads hourly

(Newser) - The CIA has invited selected senators to view the photos of Osama bin Laden's death that the White House has decided not to release to the public. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Armed Services committee have been told that they can make an appointment with the... More »

US Intel Spending Breaks $80B

Spending revealed for first time this century

(Newser) - American intelligence spending hit $80.1 billion, or some 12% of defense spending, for the just-ended fiscal year—more than what was spent on either the Department of Homeland Security ($53 billion) or the Justice Department ($30 billion). It's triple the $26.7 billion that was budgeted in 1998, the... More »

Secret Intel-Gathering Effort Behind New CIA Flap

(Newser) - So what's this secret program behind the latest feud between CIA and Congress? It's apparently an "on-again, off-again" effort created after 9/11 to collect intelligence about suspected terrorists, the Washington Post reports. It doesn't involve interrogation, but beyond that, details are murky. CIA chief Leon Panetta learned of it... More »

Condi Was First to OK Waterboarding

Condi gave go-ahead before Rumsfeld, Powell even knew about it: Senate

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice played a greater role than she has acknowledged in the CIA's harsh interrogation program, and approved the use of waterboarding, according to a newly released report from the Senate Intelligence Committee. The report finds that Rice, as national security adviser, verbally approved the CIA's request to waterboard a... More »

Senate Will Probe NSA in Wiretapping 'Overcollection'

(Newser) - The Senate Intelligence Committee is planning an inquiry into the National Security Agency after reports the spy group has been engaged in “overcollection” of information domestically, the New York Times reports. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the committee, said a hearing would be held within the month. The... More »

Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA

Inquiry to focus on controversial interrogation and detention program

(Newser) - The Senate Intelligence Committee plans a sweeping investigation into the CIA's actions under President Bush, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials say the probe is a fact-finding mission rather than an investigation into whether laws were broken, but the inquiry is certain to put the spotlight back on the agency's... More »

Controversial US Drones Based in Pakistan: Feinstein

(Newser) - Dianne Feinstein said today that Predator drones used to carry out attacks in Pakistan originate there, not in Afghanistan as had been widely assumed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation, which is likely to cause trouble for the Pakistani government, came during testimony by spy chief Dennis Blair. A... More »

Feinstein Disses Panetta as Pick for CIA Chief

Surprise pick has no intelligence experience, committee concerned

(Newser) - Dianne Feinstein hinted yesterday that she had reservations about Barack Obama’s choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA—which could be a problem for Obama, since Feinstein is the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “I was not informed about the selection,” she said. “... More »

Military Snooped on Troops' Phone Sex

Intercept operators listened to calls of troops, journalists, aid workers for fun

(Newser) - The US military routinely listened in on highly personal private phone calls of Americans calling home from the Middle East, two former operators told ABC News. President Bush has insisted that only the calls of terror suspects are monitored, but the whistleblowers say operators monitored the calls of blameless military... More »

Bush, Advisers Misled US on Iraq: Senate Report

Dem-led committee blasts administration; Republicans dismiss 'partisan exercise'

(Newser) - The Bush administration distorted facts in justifying the invasion of Iraq and overstated Saddam Hussein’s links to al-Qaeda, a long-delayed report from the Senate intelligence committee concludes. Bush and his advisers also ignored doubts about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction in constructing their case for military... More »

Biden Calls for CIA Video Probe

CIA chief to testify before Congress tomorrow

(Newser) - Sen. Joe Biden has called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videos of interrogations of suspected terrorists. Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cited Mukasey's unwillingness, during confirmation hearings, to take a stand on whether waterboarding is... More »

Congress Torn on Telecom Immunity

Senate panel sidesteps; House passes bill without it

(Newser) - Congress is conflicted over proposed immunity laws that would retroactively protect telecoms from suits alleging they illegally handed the government information on calls. The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed immunity 13-2 last month, but the Judiciary Committee left the immunity section out of the document it approved yesterday. The House passed... More »

Senate Brokers Truce With Bush on Domestic Spying

Includes immunity for phone companies

(Newser) - Senate Democrats and Republicans have brokered a deal on legislation regarding the White House domestic spying and wiretapping program—including a highly controversial grant of immunity to telecommunication companies that co-operated with warrantless wiretaps. The deal marks a victory for the White House because Democrats had to kill a House... More »

Dems Demand Torture Memos

Anger erupts over secret approval for extreme interrogation techniques

(Newser) - The disclosure by the New York Times of secret Justice Department memos greenlighting the use of torture techniques on terror suspects has triggered an uproar on Capitol Hill. Democrats have demanded to see the memos, which authorized head-slapping, sleep deprivation, freezing, a near-drowning technique called water boarding and other painful... More »

Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds

AG told of violations before testimony that no abuses occurred

(Newser) - The FBI alerted Alberto Gonzales that agents had violated privacy regulations at least six times in the weeks before he told a Senate committee that no abuses had occurred, the Washington Post reports. The 2005 and 2006 internal reports detailed numerous problems with FBI activities under the Patriot Act, but... More »

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