Kyl on intelligence oversight

[Allen Thomson]

This came out last month; I think it's interesting because Sen. Kyl always
seemed to be supportive of the intelligence agencies while he was on the
SSCI.  Also, his comment about the lack of a personal staff would seem to
imply that the oversight committees' professional staffs weren't supplying
him with all the support he needed.

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[lots of deletia]

   [Sen. John] Kyl, a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee,
   said congressional oversight of spy agencies was "not very
   good" because lawmakers serve on several committees and have
   limited staff so cannot devote full attention to one issue.

   "You would literally have to spend all of your time on this
   to really be able to know what kind of questions to ask, and
   because you don't have personal staff you get fed the questions,"
   Kyl said.

   "I mean it is not a good oversight set up, it is not
   calculated to really provide oversight, and I suspect that the
   intelligence agencies, including the CIA, like it that way a
   whole lot," he said.

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Allen Thomson

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