Cheney's Possible CIA Program Concealment Should Be Probed: Durbin

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called on Sunday for an investigation into a report that former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to withhold information about a secret program from Congress.

Durbin's comments came in the wake of the New York Times storyreported Sunday that the CIA withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism program. On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Durbin said the secrecy may have been illegal.

Stephanopoulos: Sen. Durbin, do you think this has to be investigated?

Durbin: Absolutely, it does. Let me tell you, we have a system of checks and balances. There's accountability in our Constitution. The executive branch of government cannot create a program that's like these programs and keep Congress in the dark. There's a requirement for disclosure. It has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardize our national security, but to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in Congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal.

Stephanopoulos: So you want the Intelligence Committee to look into this?

Durbin: Absolutely.

Earlier, on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-Tex.) took the opposing point of view, saying it seemed as though the revelation was designed to provide "political cover" for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has claimed she was misled by the CIA about counter-terror efforts.

"This, of course, comes on the heels of a statement unproven, by the way, of Speaker Pelosi that the CIA had lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques and this looks like a way to provide political cover to her and others," said Cornyn. "To trot out the Vice President and say he's the one who's at fault, this unfortunately sounds like a new theme where they still want to blame the Bush-Cheney administration for the economy and other things..."

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