Senate Intelligence Committee U S

A closed-door vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee last week to expand law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to launch an investigation of the CIA's detention and interrogation programs under President George W. Bush, setting the stage for a sweeping examination of some of most secretive and controversial operations in recent agency history.

The ranking members of the Senate Intelligence Committee said they favor creating a new Cabinet-level position with authority over the nation's spy agencies, stripping that control away from the CIA director. The proposal--almost certain to face major resistance from Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld--has emerged as one of the major recommendations lawmakers are likely to make at the culmination of their investigation into the intelligence failures surrounding Sept. 11.

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday said it had found no evidence that Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda or provided safe harbor to one of its most notorious operatives, Abu Musab Zarqawi -- conclusions contradicting claims by the Bush administration before it invaded Iraq.

Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, was in the "universe of people" at the agency who knew in 1986 that White House adviser Oliver L. North was providing support to the Nicaraguan resistance movement, an ex-CIA official said Thursday. Alan D. Fiers Jr.

Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday defeated a Democratic push to investigate a domestic espionage operation authorized by President Bush, but pledged to increase scrutiny of the controversial program through a newly created subcommittee.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to launch an investigation of the CIA's detention and interrogation programs under President George W. Bush, setting the stage for a sweeping examination of some of most secretive and controversial operations in recent agency history.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched what its chairman called a "preemptive" examination of U.S. intelligence on Iran as part of an effort to avoid the problems that plagued America's prewar assessments on Iraq. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said in an interview Friday that he had sought the unusual review because the erroneous prewar claims about Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction had made lawmakers wary of the CIA's current assessments on Iran.

Lawmakers pressed ahead Wednesday with proposals that would authorize President Bush's domestic spying program, as Senate Intelligence Committee members debated whether to launch an investigation into the controversial surveillance activities. The Senate Intelligence Committee meets today and is expected to vote on a Democratic proposal to investigate the eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has moved toward completing its long-awaited investigation of the Bush administration's prewar assertions about Iraq, with three of five sections nearly finished, the committee's chairman said Tuesday. Seeking to quell controversy over the pace of the inquiry, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) for the first time provided details and a partial timeline for completing the investigation, which has been underway for more than two years.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday asked for a formal investigation into whether national security had been damaged by recent news reports unearthing details of two controversial Bush administration anti-terrorism programs. "Numerous recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive intelligence programs have directly threatened important efforts in the war against terrorism," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) wrote in a letter to National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is seeking to force the Bush administration to disclose details about secret overseas prisons thought to be run by the CIA, part of a broader effort by lawmakers to compel the White House to provide more information on sensitive intelligence programs.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has moved toward completing its long-awaited investigation of the Bush administration's prewar assertions about Iraq, with three of five sections nearly finished, the committee's chairman said Tuesday. Seeking to quell controversy over the pace of the inquiry, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) for the first time provided details and a partial timeline for completing the investigation, which has been underway for more than two years.

Senators filed out of a tense, closed-door session of the Senate Intelligence Committee this week, seemingly enveloped in an angry cloud of steam. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the chairman of the panel, recalled the "nonpartisan tradition" of the committee. "We should fight the enemy; we should not fight each other," he said. His Democratic counterpart, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, was fuming.

Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday defeated a Democratic push to investigate a domestic espionage operation authorized by President Bush, but pledged to increase scrutiny of the controversial program through a newly created subcommittee.

Lawmakers pressed ahead Wednesday with proposals that would authorize President Bush's domestic spying program, as Senate Intelligence Committee members debated whether to launch an investigation into the controversial surveillance activities. The Senate Intelligence Committee meets today and is expected to vote on a Democratic proposal to investigate the eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.

Declaring that the CIA is "not torturing detainees," the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday that he saw no reason for the panel to investigate allegations that the agency abused prisoners or transferred them to countries that engage in torture. But Democrats moved to force a vote within the committee next week on whether to launch a formal inquiry on the CIA's role in the prison abuse scandal.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday asked for a formal investigation into whether national security had been damaged by recent news reports unearthing details of two controversial Bush administration anti-terrorism programs. "Numerous recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive intelligence programs have directly threatened important efforts in the war against terrorism," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) wrote in a letter to National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte.

Pentagon intelligence operatives would be allowed to collect information from U.S. citizens without revealing their status as government spies under legislation approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee and publicly released this week.

A closed-door vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee last week to expand law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress.