Intelligence Director McConnell is cast as a lobbyist

The two-day session was designed to promote a calmer atmosphere for discussing an array of intelligence issues, including the nation's eavesdropping laws. But participants said the event ended with a series of acrimonious exchanges.

Democrats accused McConnell of making exaggerated claims and of doing the bidding of the Bush administration, according to officials who attended the event. McConnell bristled at the Democrats' charges, and chastised members of the committee for failing to defend the intelligence community amid a barrage of bad press.

As lawmakers return to Washington this week to resume negotiations on legislation that will shape the government's ability to intercept international phone calls and e-mails -- and compel U.S. telecommunications companies to provide extensive access to their networks -- House Democrats say that relations with McConnell remain frayed.

Spy chiefs have often seen their support in Congress fade after embarrassing intelligence flaps. But McConnell has drawn lawmakers' ire largely because the Bush administration has put him in the unusual role of intelligence community lobbyist.

"I think people recognize that McConnell is very bright, very capable, and wants what is best for the country," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

"But I do think that he has not overcome the initial impression in the House that, rather than speak as an independent voice for what the intelligence community needed, he instead carried water for the administration," Schiff said. "I think that created a cloud around the DNI that carries forward to this day."

The tensions underscore the extent to which the soft-spoken McConnell has struggled with the political dimensions of his job. A retired U.S. Navy admiral, McConnell came into the position with the reputation of a technocrat who was expected to operate largely behind the scenes, fixing broken pieces of the intelligence bureaucracy.

Instead, he has been pulled into politically charged debates over intelligence issues including CIA interrogation tactics and how much authority the government should have to eavesdrop on phone calls going into or out of the United States.