The 6 most controversial moments of the Brennan CIA senate confirmation hearing

Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, threatened to hold up John Brennan’s nomination for CIA director if the Obama White House did not provide documents and electronic correspondence about the deadly attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.Sen. Burr did not directly accuse Brennan of involvement in the burgeoning scandal, instead focusing his frustration at stonewalling from the Obama Administration by admonishing the nominee:“But let me just say I hope that you take the opportunity, if you haven't already, to send back to the administration it is absolutely essential that the documents this committee has requested on Benghazi be supplied before the confirmation moves forward. I realize -- I'm not saying that you were part of it, but it is absolutely essential that we get those documents before we begin a new administration at CIA and I hope you will deliver that message.”Sen. Angus King, an Independent senator from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, tore apart President Obama’s drone “targeted kill” policy that was devised and executed by John Brennan.In his condemnation of the way the “kill list” is formed without any judicial review and how individuals are selected for assassination by drones, Sen. King delivered an articulate reprimand of President Obama and Brennan by saying:“I understand that you can’t have co-commanders in chief, but having the executive be the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner all in one is very contrary to the traditions and the laws of this country, particularly in situations where there is time.”Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, looked CIA Director-designate John Brennan right in the eye, and in a moment of high drama directly accused the nominee of leaking classified national security information about an airline bomb plot in which the existence of an embedded double-agent providing intelligence to the U.S. was revealed to the press while the plot was still active.Staring at the nominee directly in the eyes, Sen. Risch declared:“It seems to me the leak the Justice Department is looking for is right here in front of us.”Brennan shot back, “I disagree vehemently. In my discussion with those individuals that night, it already was out in the press.”View the list »
On Feb. 7, CIA director nominee John Brennan appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to answer questions from senators about a wide range of issues about President Barack Obama’s controversial counter-terrorism policies.

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On Feb. 7, CIA director nominee John Brennan appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to answer questions from senators about a wide range of issues involving his career, President Barack Obama’s controversial drone counter-terrorism policies, and the future of the nation’s premier spy agency, as reported in the Washington Post.

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The senate panel peppered the nominee with sharp questions about many of the contentious counter-terrorism policies of President Barack Obama and former administrations for which Brennan was a high-ranking official at the CIA.

At times Brennan appeared defiant toward the senators - even evasive towards Democrats on drones - by simply claiming certain lines of questioning were classified government secrets and could not be explored further.

The tone of the exchanges was more amplified than the confirmation hearing for defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel the week before. National Journal’s Jill Lawrence described the stark contrast between the two as, “Maybe it’s the difference between New Jersey and Nebraska, or the blunt talk of a hard-nosed terrorism expert and ruminations from a foreign policy think-tanker.”

Brennan’s demeanor personified the uncompromising and obdurate man described in an article titled “The Lethal Bureaucrat” that was published in ForeignPolicy.com on the day of the 9/11 commemoration and Benghazi massacre on September 11, 2012, writing:

“No politically appointed official in U.S. history has played such a prominent role in killing so many people outside of a war zone as John Brennan.”

Many prominent Democrats have voiced their outrage at President Obama’s drone “kill list” policy that operates out of the White House by John Brennan.

The nomination of John Brennan is not a surprise to Democrats close to President Barack Obama. The ForeignPolicy.com article describes Brennan as, “a priest whose blessing has become indispensable to Obama.”

Here are the 6 most controversial moments of the Brennan CIA senate confirmation hearing.

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  • Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, looked CIA Director-designate John Brennan right in the eye, and in a moment of high drama directly accused the nominee of leaking classified national security information about an airline bomb plot in which the existence of an embedded double-agent providing intelligence to the U.S. was revealed to the press while the plot was still active.Staring at the nominee directly in the eyes, Sen. Risch declared:“It seems to me the leak the Justice Department is looking for is right here in front of us.”Brennan shot back, “I disagree vehemently. In my discussion with those individuals that night, it already was out in the press.”
  • Sen. Angus King, an Independent senator from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, tore apart President Obama’s drone “targeted kill” policy that was devised and executed by John Brennan.In his condemnation of the way the “kill list” is formed without any judicial review and how individuals are selected for assassination by drones, Sen. King delivered an articulate reprimand of President Obama and Brennan by saying:“I understand that you can’t have co-commanders in chief, but having the executive be the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner all in one is very contrary to the traditions and the laws of this country, particularly in situations where there is time.”
  • Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, threatened to hold up John Brennan’s nomination for CIA director if the Obama White House did not provide documents and electronic correspondence about the deadly attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.Sen. Burr did not directly accuse Brennan of involvement in the burgeoning scandal, instead focusing his frustration at stonewalling from the Obama Administration by admonishing the nominee:“But let me just say I hope that you take the opportunity, if you haven't already, to send back to the administration it is absolutely essential that the documents this committee has requested on Benghazi be supplied before the confirmation moves forward. I realize -- I'm not saying that you were part of it, but it is absolutely essential that we get those documents before we begin a new administration at CIA and I hope you will deliver that message.”
  •  Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, expressed her disgust and outrage at the CIA and its previous directors while demanding that John Brennan provide more transparency and disclosure to members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.Among the chief criticisms of Brennan is that in his role as an official assistant to President Obama as homeland security advisor and deputy national security advisor for counterterrorism, the nominee and the White House have been less than forthcoming to senators on the panel about many intelligence-related issues.The outspoken senator told John Brennan bluntly:“With the exception of Mr. Panetta, I feel I’ve been jerked around by every CIA director.”
  •  Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, told John Brennan that he reviewed 50 emails sent to the nominee while he was serving as a deputy director during the Bush era detailing the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the agency. Brennan has publicly stated that he did not agree with the enhanced interrogation policy.When Sen. Chambliss challenged Brennan on why he did not do anything with his authority to report or put an end to enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, the nominee made excuses by saying:“I did not take steps to stop the CIA’s use of those techniques, I was not in the chain of command of that program. I was aware of program. I was cc’d on some of those documents, but I had no oversight of it. I did not try to stop it because it was something being done in a different part of the agency under authority of others.”Brennan claimed he had voiced his personal opinion about the program to others at CIA, although provided no witnesses.Sen. Chambliss retorted, “We just have not seen anybody come forward who ever heard any objection from you.”
  •  Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, asked Brennan the most direct and pointed question about President Obama’s “kill list” authority to assassinate U.S. citizens that was outlined in the leaked Department of Justice memo on Feb. 4.As the Democrat who is taking the lead on the controversial drone “kill list” issue, Sen. Wyden sought clarification about the potential limits of President Obama’s lethal power to authorize assassinations of U.S. citizens, by asking:“In my judgment, both the Congress and the public need to understand the answers to these kind of fundamental questions. What do you think needs to be done to make sure that members of the public understand more about when the government thinks it's allowed to kill them, particularly with respect to those two issues, the question of evidence and the authority to use this power within the United States?”Brennan gave a confusing response, simply saying, “What we need to do is optimize transparency on these issues, but at the same time, optimize secrecy and the protection of our national security. I don't think that it's one or the other. It's trying to optimize both of them.”
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