Udall "Deeply Disappointed" By CIA Nominee John Brennan

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by: Colorado Pols

An interesting development today reported by FOX 31's Eli Stokols:

[I]t raised many eyebrows around the Beltway when Udall, a Democrat facing reelection in 2014, issued a surprisingly blistering statement about his meeting Wednesday with President Obama’s nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan…

According to Udall’s office, he and Sens. Carl Levin, D-MI, and Ron Wyden, R-OR, met with Brennan today after asking him to review the committee’s findings, which were based on a documentary review of more than 6 million pages of CIA and other records, and raises critical questions about intelligence operations and oversight.

“I was deeply disappointed today during my meeting with John Brennan,” Udall said. “A few weeks ago, I had asked that he be prepared to discuss at today’s meeting the findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s comprehensive study on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation program.

“Not only was he not prepared to discuss the important findings, but he hadn’t reviewed the report at all,” Udall continued.

John Brennan, as you may recall, was the original choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency after President Barack Obama won election in 2008. A significant outcry from liberal Democrats and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union over Brennan's support for controversial interrogation methods employed by the agency under George W. Bush resulted in Brennan withdrawing his name. Brennan claimed that use of those methods "has saved lives." Brennan has also spoken favorably about the controversial practice of "rendition" of detainees to nations where they would be tortured for information. In Brennan's defense, he has also claimed that the particular tactic of "waterboarding," or similated drowning in interrogations, is "inconsistent with American values."

With all of that in mind, it is quite surprising that Brennan wasn't even prepared to discuss the issues with Sen. Mark Udall today. Sen. Udall, after all, is one of the foremost critics in the Senate of the CIA tactics Brennan endorsed, and Udall will be voting on Brennan's confirmation.

Without getting into Obama's reasons for nominating this guy…does he even want the job?

6 thoughts on “Udall “Deeply Disappointed” By CIA Nominee John Brennan”

JeffcoBlue says:

January 30, 2013 at 4:16 pm

Good for Mark Udall.

Why does Obama keep nominating this asshole?

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EccentricRepublican says:

January 30, 2013 at 5:31 pm

Oh pshaw, haven't you ever seen an episode of 24? Torture. Always. Works.

Marco Polo!

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Sir Robin says:

January 30, 2013 at 5:49 pm

I am so in agreement. Jesus, Moses and Joseph. Will we ever learn??? How in the hell are we to make any progress as a country, as a people, a civilization,or a culture, until this type of regurgitated swill are left in the gutter of history, where they belong?

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Meiner49er says:

January 30, 2013 at 8:45 pm

"Does he even want the job?" Good question? Why would any one want it? The CIA has lost its role in American foreign policy, as the new DNI position overseeing the DCI makes clear. Without that role, it is a convenient scapegoat when things go wrong because no one working there can speak up for themselves. There's much that it can't do in a timely fashion because the enemies it watches are no longer slow moving states, and what it still can do the American public rarely supports when they learn of it. Want to eliminate waste and cut the Federal budget? Here's a good place to start. We have 15 (maybe 16) other agencies that will still be doing the job. C'mon Udall, get really feisty!

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bullshit! says:

January 31, 2013 at 7:33 am

What's the objection from Udall? That Brennan supported torture or that he didn't do his homework for the interview?

I'm glad to see this, and I hope Sen. Udall sticks to his guns.

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BlueCat says:

January 31, 2013 at 9:26 am

Good for Udall. The recent dust up with Russia, punishing us for lecturing them on their human rights record by stopping adoptions, ought to be instructive. We can either claim the moral high ground and criticize others or we can be a torturing, black hole prison, indefinite detention without charge regime. We can't do both. Not if we don't want other regimes to throw our hypocrisy back into our faces.

You really can't blame Russia for its refusal to accept our holier than thou chutzba. Our excuse that we only do illegal and immoral things to protect our security is the oldest, lamest excuse in any regime's book. Every regime that indulges in these despicable practices claims that they are just protecting their citizenry from enemies of the people.

Thanks to the rationalizations of people like Brennan and, by extention, our political leaders including President Obama, our lectures to other regimes on the subject of human rights no longer have a shred of credibility. Good for the Russians for telling us where we can shove our hypocritical self righteousness and, once again, good for Udall.

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