CIA deflects Congress' request for more information on high-ranking employees

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last updated 30 December 2015

The Senate Intelligence Committee wants to gain more insight into how U.S. intelligence agencies operate. But despite recent pledges from CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for increased transparency, the spy chiefs were quick to nix the Senate committee's provision requesting the disclosure of any "significant and credible information to suggest that the individual is unfit or unqualified,” calling it "too invasive." The current draft only requires chiefs to provide "information the Director determines appropriate."

The provision follows a report released last year that found "numerous CIA officers had serious documented personal and professional problems — including histories of violence and records of abusive treatment of others — that should have called into question their suitability to participate in the CIA's detention and interrogation program." One passage even went so far as to suggest that "managers seem to be selecting either problem, underperforming officers, new, totally inexperienced officers or whomever seems to be willing and able to deploy at any given time."

While Clapper and Brennan acknowledged problems, with Brennan saying the agency indeed "fell short when it came to holding individuals accountable for poor performance," the chiefs offered a number of reasons to avoid providing more information. Among those, The Washington Post reports, were the increased "bureaucratic workload," the invasiveness of the language, and the "undermining" of "the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government."