In Intelligence World, a Mute Watchdog

By John Solomon
The Washington Post
Sunday 15 July 2007

Panel reported no violations for five years.


From Truthout:

An independent oversight board created to identify intelligence abuses after the CIA scandals of the 1970s did not send any reports to the attorney general of legal violations during the first 5 1/2 years of the Bush administration's counterterrorism effort, the Justice Department has told Congress.

Although the FBI told the board of a few hundred legal or rules violations by its agents after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the board did not identify which of them were indeed legal violations. This spring, it forwarded reports of violations in 2006, officials said.

The President's Intelligence Oversight Board - the principal civilian watchdog of the intelligence community - is obligated under a 26-year-old executive order to tell the attorney general and the president about any intelligence activities it believes "may be unlawful." The board was vacant for the first two years of the Bush administration.

The FBI sent copies of its violation reports directly to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. But the board's mandate is to provide independent oversight, so the absence of such communications has prompted critics to question whether the board was doing its job.

"It's now apparent that the IOB was not actively employed in the early part of the administration. And it was a crucial period when its counsel would seem to have been needed the most," said Anthony Harrington, who served as the board's chairman for most of the Clinton administration.

"The White House counsel's office and the attorney general should have known and been concerned if they did not detect an active and effective IOB," Harrington said.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) added: "It is deeply disturbing that this administration seems to spend so much of its energy and resources trying to find ways to ignore any check and balance on its authority and avoid accountability to Congress and the American public."

Here are the members of the President's Intelligence Oversight Board:

Members:
Arthur B. Culvahouse
Donald L. Evans
David E. Jeremiah

Donald Evans:

A profile of the Commerce Secretary compiled by Foreign Policy In Focus describes him as "George W. Bush's close friend from West Texas, ... a skilled businessman, fundraiser, and campaign manager."

Arthur B. Culvahouse:

was selected February 7, 2006, by President Bush.

David E. Jeremiah:

an Admiral (U.S. Navy, Ret.) selected February 7, 2006, by President Bush.