Oversight of CIA
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Marvin Ott has written a well-balanced commentary (“Secrecy Isn’t the Washington Norm,” May 11) on the evils of partisan politics in the Congress’ select committees on intelligence. As a nation, we have watched as congressional committees mock selections ranging from Supreme Court justices to secretaries of labor, but until recently the intelligence community did not have to be worried about congressional partisanship.
The change to partisan politics and its inherent deficiencies became apparent when Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) stalled the confirmation hearing of Anthony Lake. (While not disagreeing about the need to investigate Lake, I do disagree with the manner in which the investigation was conducted.)
Our national intelligence apparatus is far too important to be tainted with political affiliations.
SPENCER T. EBERLE
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