C.I.A. Chief: IG Investigation Was Meant To Be Low Key

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/washington/23intel.html?ref=washington

C.I.A. Chief Defends Review on Agency’s Inspector General


By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: October 23, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 — The director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Monday vigorously defended the agency’s examination of its own inspector general, calling it a “management review” intended to improve investigations by that independent internal watchdog.

The director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, said he had ordered the review after hearing reports about the conduct of Inspector General John L. Helgerson that “raised questions in my mind” about how Mr. Helgerson’s office was carrying out its investigations of C.I.A. programs.

The comments by the director, in an appearance on the PBS television program “Charlie Rose,” were his first public remarks on the subject since news reports this month disclosed the existence of the internal review.

General Hayden did not specify what in particular concerned him about the investigations by Mr. Helgerson’s office. He said a small group led by Robert L. Deitz, a close aide to the director, had been working on the review since April and would deliver a report within “the next week or so.”

“This was designed to be low key,” he said.

The review has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike on Capitol Hill, who have suggested that it could have a chilling effect on Mr. Helgerson’s independence.

Mr. Helgerson’s office has investigated some of the most controversial programs undertaken by the agency since the Sept. 11 attacks, including its efforts to detain and interrogate leading terrorism suspects and its program of “extraordinary rendition”: the practice of capturing suspects and delivering them to authorities in other nations.

The inspector general’s investigations have bred resentment among some at the agency, who say the inquiries amount to second-guessing of C.I.A. operatives in dangerous field assignments.