WASHINGTON — Nominated to head the CIA, John Brennan told a protest-disrupted Senate confirmation hearing Thursday the United States remains at war with al-Qaida and other terrorists and is under “daily cyberattack” by foreign countries and others.
In a statement delivered before he answered questions, Brennan promised to keep members of the congressional intelligence committees “fully and currently informed” and acknowledged that the CIA “is not immune from scrutiny” of its efforts to safeguard the nation.
The hearing was interrupted repeatedly — once before it began and then several times before Brennan had completed his brief statement. At one point, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ordered the proceedings halted and the room cleared so those re-entering could be screened to block obvious protesters.
The shouted protests centered on CIA drone strikes that have killed three American citizens and an unknown number of foreigners overseas.
It was a topic very much on the mind of the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who eventually will vote on Brennan’s confirmation.