What did George Tenet think?
It’s entirely possible that this killing program was one of many ideas tossed around in brainstorming sessions in the frenzied days after the 9/11 attacks. And it’s possible that no one seriously thought that Congress needed to be apprised of half-formulated plans that hadn’t blossomed into operations. But Tenet, who was the director of central intelligence from 1997 to 2004 and spent a good chunk of his career working for the Senate oversight committee, would have known as well as anyone whether Congress should have been brought into the loop. Tenet would have understood not just the legal requirements but also the political and cultural expectations in play. This program reportedly lingered for months and years. After the tempo of activity immediately following the attacks of 9/11 slowed, someone had to make a decision about what the threshold for congressional notification would be. If Tenet didn’t make that decision (and perhaps Hayden did), then we need to know why. We also need t
