It’s the blackest of all comedy: The man who engineered the NSA’s domestic wiretapping program appears to be sailing toward confirmation as the nation’s next CIA chief.


N.Y. Times:

WASHINGTON, May 23 ? The Senate Intelligence Committee strongly endorsed Gen. Michael V. Hayden on Tuesday to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with all but three members, all Democrats, voting to send General Hayden’s nomination to the Senate floor.

The panel’s 12-to-3 vote virtually guarantees that General Hayden will win confirmation by the full Senate, which is likely to vote on his selection before the end of the week.

With the current C.I.A. director, Porter J. Goss, planning to leave the agency on Friday, the White House had urged the Senate to move quickly on General Hayden’s confirmation. The vote on Tuesday came just 15 days after President Bush nominated General Hayden.

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