The National Security Agency provided new details about the surveillance effort in closed-door briefings one day before the architect of the program was due to appear in a confirmation hearing to head the CIA.
Members of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee said the NSA provided them lots of information about the program, but that they still had lots of unanswered questions.
Right from the time that briefings on this program were limited to chairmen and vice chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence committees and party leaders in the House and Senate, the Bush administration has been saying that “Congress has been fully briefed”. Since this administration would never lie to the American people, here are some possible explanations for why Senate Intelligence Committe members still have unanswered questions:
1) The Senate Select Intelligence Committee was given a Mickey Mouse version of the standard briefing. There were too many gaps, and so many things didn’t make sense.
2) The Senate Select Intelligence Committee was given the rocket scientist version of the standard briefing, so most of it was way over their heads.
3) The Senate Select Intelligence Committee was given the standard briefing. They just aren’t intelligent enough to understand what they were told.
4) The briefing was held through gritted teeth, and with a just-shut-up-and-listen attiutude. (And with distinct overtones of “don’t think for even a minute that we’ll continue this sh** once Hayden’s confirmed”.)