More to Goss’ Resignation than Meets the Eye
by Pamela LeaveyIs there more to Porter Goss’ unexpected resignation than meets the eye? There’s plenty of specualtion out there in the blogosphere and has been for days that Goss is caught up in the HookerGate scandal. ThinkProgress post a primer on Goss’ possible involvement earlier today and TalkingPointsMemo has more here.
White House officials say that the president could nominate Goss’s successor as early as Monday. Speculation on possible candidates includes “Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former National Security Agency director who is Negroponte’s deputy, and Mary Margaret Graham, who was transferred from CIA headquarters after clashing with Goss’s staff. She now coordinates intelligence collection for Negroponte.”
The WaPo reports on the stormy relationship between Dubya and Goss. One Bush administration official said, “It just didn’t click.”
Republicans joined Bush yesterday in thanking Goss but did not praise his tenure. Democrats said his leadership had been a failure.
“Regrettably, Porter Goss’s tenure as director of the CIA was a tumultuous one,” said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), vice chairman of the intelligence panel. “We must have a leader with strong credentials, a demonstrated track record of independence and objectivity, and the ability to bring much needed harmony within the ranks.”
Time Magazine reports on the “Incredible Shrinking CIA.”
The sudden and unexpected resignation of Porter Goss as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Friday highlights a long bureaucratic battle that’s been going on behind the scenes in Washington. Ever since John Negroponte was appointed Director of National Intelligence a year ago and given the task of coordinating the nation’s myriad spy agencies, he has been diluting the power and prestige of the CIA. From day one, he supplanted the CIA Director as the President’s principal intelligence adviser, in charge of George W. Bush’s daily briefing. Other changes followed, all originating in the law that created the DNI — and all traumatic for CIA fans. Then, earlier this week, in a little noticed move, Negroponte signaled that he would be moving still more responsibility from the CIA to his own office, including control over the analysis of terrorist groups and threats.
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What the Fook is hooker gate. I missed that one.
Sandrakae
It seems that the Dukester was being supplied hookers and a few of his pals were as well. Check the Hookergate link.
I’m thinking this is to bring the Skull and Crossbones’ lead intel/security faction into their own secure department. Leaving the decent CIA people in a powerless, out of the loop agency. Come to think of it. If this is true, it will make weeding out the S&C faction so much easier.
The GOP will just claim they are trying to pay attention to the Congressional report saying the CIA needs to be dismantled. This allows them to continue the faction that was screwing up the CIA while getting rid of the ‘disloyal’.
Negroponte, honed his skills in Iran/Contra. Just what Intel needs.
BTW, around here, DNI is used in the hospital for Do Not Investigate. Translation: don’t investigate anything that will add to the patient’s care needs.