CIA nominee General Michael Hayden insisted today that the Bush administration’s domestic spying program “was legal and that it was designed to ensnare terrorists — not spy on ordinary people.”

Hayden evaded questions, did not answer many and said that the CIA “has become a ‘political football.’”

Sidestepping the recent phone database controversy…

He said the surveillance program used a “probable cause” standard that made it unlikely that information about average Americans would be scrutinized.

But he declined to openly discuss reports that the NSA was engaged in even broader surveillance, including a story in USA Today that the NSA has been secretly collecting phone-call records of tens of millions of U.S. citizens.

Under questioning from Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, Hayden said he would only talk about the part of the program the president had confirmed.

“Is that the whole program?” asked Levin.

“I’m not at liberty to talk about that in open session,” Hayden said. A closed-door session was planned for later in the day.

Dianne Feinstein quizzed Hayden on interrogation limits, Hayden didn’t answer…

Hayden declined to answer a string of questions by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., saying he would answer them later in a closed-door session.

They included whether he believed that “waterboarding,” in which prisoners are strapped to a plank and dunked in water until nearly drowning, was an acceptable form of interrogation. He also declined to say publicly how long he believed the United States could hold terror suspects without a trial.

“He didn’t answer any of them,” Feinstein said into an open mike as the hearing recessed for lunch.

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