After the House Intelligence Committee announced that they would investigate:
... whether the CIA broke the law by not informing Congress promptly about a secret program to deploy teams of killers to target al-Qaida leaders.
... Greg Sargent at The Plum Line noted that the remarks by President Obama's director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, who said that he did not believe the CIA violated the law, put Obama "at odds with Congressional Dems who question its legality and want a probe."
And today, Sargent reports that Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) also took note and has challenged Blair to put up or shut up, writing:
According to a story on Thursday in the Washington Post, you stated that the failure to notify the congressional intelligence committees about a program recently cancelled by CIA Director Leon Panetta did not violate the law. I disagree and believe that the program in question fit squarely within the notification requirements of the National Security Act. I therefore request that you provide me with your analysis, and any analysis by the DNI General Counsel, supporting your conclusion.
As sternly worded letterstm go, this one cuts right to the chase, and as Sargent points out, it:
... creates an awkward choice for the White House. It can either walk back Blair’s comments, or openly defend the program as legal, putting the White House at odds with House Dems who are probing the program for possible lawbreaking.
My .02? Walk it back. Now. Both because it's the right thing to do, and because this isn't a good time for the White House to be alienating its congressional allies.