Murray Waas on the NYT article Hoekstra

[cal04]

The NYT, just moments ago, posted this story on their website disclosing that the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, has questioned the legality of certain Bush administration covert intelligence programs. One reason that this is such an extraoridinary developmnet is that Hoekstra has been considered an administration ally and point man in the past in defending the President's intelligence programs and policies. It should also be noted that his comments are much sharper than anything said in the past by the committee's Democratic vice chairwoman, Jane Harmon of California.

(snip)
Rep. Hoekstra's Letter to President Bush( at the site)
The letter from Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, did not specify the intelligence activities that he believed had been hidden from Congress.

But Mr. Hoekstra, who was briefed on and supported the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of international banking transactions, clearly was referring to programs that have not been publicly revealed.

Recently, after the harsh criticism from Mr. Hoekstra, intelligence officials have appeared at two closed committee briefings to answer questions from the chairman and other members. The briefings appear to have eased but not erased the concerns of Mr. Hoekstra and other lawmakers about whether the administration is sharing information on all of its intelligence operations.


more below this article and updates on gitmo and Libby
http://whateveralready.blogspot.com/

[MissWaverly]

1. thanks for the post Cal04

one can only say at this point, what are they hiding?

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Something brewing here?

In the absence of details on the nature of what Hoekstra found out, I see two major possibilities.

First, and least likely, is that Hoekstra found out the Bushies have been doing something something so egregious that even he, the apologist extraordinaire, can't stomach it.

Second, and more likely, he found out the Bushies have been doing something truly awful that he fears is about to get publicly exposed somehow, and he is maneuvering to distance himself from the impending shit hemmorhage.

[burf]

3. Pardon me for

being skeptical. IMO it's just a re election ploy to prove "We are not the Rubber Stamp Republicans". Start the talk of a bunch of hearings and investigations, neither of which will go nowhere. The comes the "we conducted comprehensive investigations and questioned witnesses and there is no evidence of anything". Followed by the usual Blah Blah Blah.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Certainly a possibility, maybe even the most likely explanation.

But somehow I think there was something new and really dirty that triggered it. Why gratuitously raise the suspicion that there's something really bad out there if there isn't?

[KoKo]

5. I hope you are correct that at least ONE Repug has been awakened...

and just a few weeks ago I would have agreed with you that Hoekstra might have turned on the Bushies because he was speaking out. But, then he did something that made me realize he was just "distancing for politics." (Sorry, I can't remember what he did and too busy tonight to do a Google, but whatever it was I realized he was just being a politician as usual.)

Still...I would hope, as I said, that there's some possibility that what you say is true. It seems that the Repugs were kept much more involved than the Dems on these Intelligence, Judicial and Arms Affairs Committees. And, Jane Harmon is either a Lieberman Dem or she was totally in the dark. She's one of those favorites on Russert's show...that makes her suspect.

I think that most of our Senate and House are either bought and paid for or so far out of the loop in their political snoozes that they can't even grasp the enormity of the information the Bushies give them or carefully leave out. I wonder how many can even use a computer? It might be very hard for those who are used to having aides do the computer stuff to grasp some of the "spying issues" that are going on. And, perhaps the info as it was presented was laid out in a way that would entice a non-computer literate person, too.

Who knows...:shrug:

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Well, I'm not seriously proposing that Hoekstra has Seen the Light...

only that he's scared that something really big & dirty is about to come out & he wants to get ahead of it. This is the key passage in shaping my opinion here:

But Mr. Hoekstra, who was briefed on and supported the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of international banking transactions, clearly was referring to programs that have not been publicly revealed.

That would rule out SWIFT, the NSA stuff, and anything else that has been made public so far.

[lyonn]

6. Where is Jane Harmon on this? She is the Dem. Intel. leader?

Edit: Oops Kookoo, you already included Harmon in this scenario. She doesn't sound upset when discussing this issue on the talkie shows, as you stated.

[KoKo]

8. She "peeps up" once in awhile...but once her CA seat seemed safe

she sort of went underground again. She jogs with Michael Chertoff if that's any clue as to who she's comfortable with. :eyes:

[DemReadingDU]

9. Larry Johnson: House Intel Chief Misses the Boat

Today's news from Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane that the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra, sent a nasty gram to the White House complaining of being kept in the dark on intelligence matters is significant, but misleading. It is significant because Hoekstra is staunch defender of the Bush Administration and yet is now willing to insist that his committee must be briefed on intel operations. So far, so good. What the reporters missed is the underlying message in Hoekstra's letter--that the Bush Administration is being too soft on the intel community, particularly the CIA, and that the CIA is a rogue political actor.

... What caught my eye is Hoekstra's outrage over news that Steven Kappes, the former Director of Operations at the CIA who resigned because of a dispute with Porter Goss, was coming back to the Agency as the Deputy Director. Once you understand how extreme and venomous Hoekstra's world view toward the CIA is, we can begin to understand why many intelligence officers, regardless of political persuasion, have lost confidence in Congressional oversight of the intelligence community.

For those not familiar with the details on the initial Kappes flap, here's the rundown.

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/07/house_intel_chi.html