CIA: 'An Agency Version of the "Jerry Springer Show"'
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9468670/site/newsweek
Oct. 3, 2005 issue - Personal and political feuding at CIA headquarters is turning into a soap opera. Morale has declined for months as CIA chief Porter Goss has purged senior managers and critics have assailed the agency for fumbling intelligence on Al Qaeda and unconventional weapons in Iraq. And last week frustrations at Langley, Va., boiled over as career spies lobbed broadsides against Goss's stewardship.
Only sketchy accounts are available of what may have been the most telling critique of Goss's leadership, presented to a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee by veteran operative Rob Richer. Richer served nine months as deputy chief of the CIA's spy branch before resigning earlier this month. He told senators he was unhappy about how Goss ran the agency, including the director's absentee style of management, say three sources familiar with his testimony who declined to be identified because it's classified. Richer "struggled mightily to be respectful but did not pull punches," says one of the sources. (A supporter says Richer isn't speaking to the media.)
The day after Richer sat before the committee, Goss appeared at a previously scheduled "Town Hall Meeting" open to all CIA employees and broadcast by closed-circuit video to agency outposts. In a speech, the CIA chief declared the agency had made "real progress" in recruiting new agents and chasing terrorists. The speech was distributed to the media, but in a private Q&A afterward, Goss faced awkward questions from the ranks. Asked why veteran officers like Richer were walking out, Goss said, "I don't do personnel," and blamed the media for inaccurate reporting, say three sources with firsthand knowledge of the proceedings who requested anonymity since the broadcast was private. The CIA's operations chief, known as Jose because he works under cover, then stated that Richer "had good reasons for leaving." (A CIA official familiar with Goss's view, who doesn't discuss it for attribution, says Goss believes that CIA division chiefs should have the right to choose their own personnel—and that Jose said CIA operations would emerge "even stronger" from Goss's reforms.) Another member of the audience, say the sources with first-hand knowledge, asked Goss about why the director brought a former congressional staffer with him to the CIA who, as a junior CIA officer, once got into trouble for shoplifting food. Goss responded that people make mistakes.
Not every audience member was hostile to Goss, the sources say. A Goss sympathizer complained: "People are turning this into an agency version of the 'Jerry Springer Show'." CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano tells NEWSWEEK: "The director is a strong believer in candor and open communication within the CIA family."
—Mark Hosenball
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Gold9472
