Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Intelligence Agencies Compete for Obama's Attention

Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff write on Newsweek.com:

Within hours of Obama's victory, the CIA appears to have touched off jostling among intelligence agencies. On Nov. 5, the day after the election, CIA Director Michael Hayden sent a message to agency employees affirming the "central part" that the CIA would play in the "Intelligence Community's outreach to the President-elect."

Hayden's message noted that McConnell would "launch" the intelligence community's first official briefing of the president-elect and his "incoming administration." The message went on to note that the CIA had "already prepared a great deal of information" about itself for Obama's team.

Citing Hayden's unclassified message, media outlets published stories about how the CIA had mobilized rapidly to provide Obama with the same kind of daily intelligence feed President Bush receives from McConnell. Last Monday, however, the Web site of the intel czar carried its own statement reasserting its central role in the transition process.

posted by Fergie @ 11/13/2008 05:54:00 PM