Specter Advocates for Transcriptions of CIA Briefings

By THE OFFICE OF SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER

Washington, D.C. – Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) today wrote the CIA Director, White House Counsel, and the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees urging that transcripts be made during the CIA’s congressional briefings.

The letters state:

“From my experience on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which I chaired in the 104th Congress, I found there were frequent disputes as to whether the CIA did the requisite briefings; and, if they did, whether the briefing was adequate. While those disputes did not reach the level of controversy involving Speaker Pelosi and the CIA today, they were significant.

“Such controversies could be resolved by having the briefings transcribed, just as the hearings are transcribed. If the dispute involved classified materials, the transcript could be reviewed by the Chair and Ranking Member or perhaps even by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, with sufficient public disclosure to resolve the matter.”

Senator Specter sent letters to:
·         Leon Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;
·         Gregory Craig, White House Counsel;
·         Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairwoman of the Select Committee on Intelligence;
·         Senator Kit Bond, Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Intelligence;
·         Representative Silvestre Reyes, Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence;
·         Representative Peter Hoekstra, Ranking Member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

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