McConnell Mum on CIA Investigation of IGSince taking over as director of national intelligence in February, Mike McConnell has prided himself on being more open to the public than most intelligence chiefs. His release in July of thousands of documents of controversial; Cold War-era CIA activities, known as the “Family Jewels” was the biggest declassification in the agency’s history.
But no dice getting his reaction to a more recent scandal: CIA Director Michael Hayden’s investigation of his agency’s own inspector general, John Helgerson. McConnell spokesman Ross Feinstein simply said the director had “no comment” and referred any press inquiries to the CIA. Given the internal agency dispute, it might be helpful to know whether Hayden’s boss considers the move appropriate or necessary, but it appears that for now McConnell is keeping his opinion private.