January 30, 2013 03:22 PM UTC

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?