Former CIA chief: Female senator too 'emotional' to objectively review interrogation program

As chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has sparred with the CIA and overseen an enormous report into the agency's harsh interrogation practices during the Bush years. And after the committee last week voted to release portions of the explosive report, Feinstein declared that the findings would reveal "brutality that stands in stark contrast to our values as a nation."

Given Feinstein's credentials and tenure — she's led the committee for the past five years — you'd think she would be a credible voice on the subject. Not so, according to Bush's former Director of National Intelligence turned CIA chief Michael Hayden, who suggested on Fox News Sunday that Feinstein was just getting carried away by her emotions.

"Now that sentence, the motivation for the report," he said of Feinstein's harsh remarks on the CIA's interrogation program, "may show deep emotional feeling on the part of the senator. But I don't think it leads you to an objective report."

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Incredulous, host Chris Wallace asked Hayden whether he really meant to imply Feinstein was just being "emotional in these conclusions." Hayden did not responded directly, saying instead that only pieces of the report had been released so it was premature to categorize the entire interrogation program.