Wyden The Net Of Panetta Informants; Feinstein's A Fan Of Kappes

Elana Schor at the indispensable Talking Points Memo.com  reveals that the Obama transition team consulted with SSCI member Sen. Ron Wyden about the Panetta CIA pick before the news was leaked (by persons unknown) to the New York Times and NBC News. This disclosure will add grist to the conspiracy theory that the Obama team intended to send a message about power and authority to incoming SSCI chair Dianne Feinstein.  It still doesn't make sense, though: if the rational for picking Panetta is that he will repair the strained relationship between the agency and its overseers, why deliberately alienate the overseer-in-chief?

As an Obama transition adviser told me: "[Obama] can and should get deputies who know the CIA from the inside, but there is something to be said for having a tough manager who knows what intelligence is used for, and what is needed to make it useful."

Schor then catches up with Dianne Feinstein, who tells her that if Obama keeps longtime CIA official Steve Kappes as deputy CIA director, then she'd be much more comfortable with Panetta.

Obama probably intends to keep Kappes where he is, so Feinstein is probably signaling her consent, even though Obama did not take her advice.

Meanwhile, Silvester Reyes, the chairman of the House's intelligence oversight committee, is a fan of Panetta's, releasing a statement that concludes: "If Leon Panetta is the final choice for Director of CIA, I look forward to his quick confirmation and to working with one of the most loyal public servants this country has known."