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Obama nominates top intelligence officials

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US President-elect Barack Obama on Friday announced his nominations for the top posts in the US intelligence community, designating Admiral Dennis Blair to be Director of National Intelligence and Leon Panetta to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Obama also announced that John Brennan will serve as Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor for Counter-terrorism as an Assistant to the President. Blair has served as Commander of US forces in the Pacific and as Associate Director of Central Intelligence for Military Support. Panetta has served as a Congressman, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, and White House Chief of Staff. Panetta will replace current CIA director Michael Hayden, who has agreed to stay on and cooperate fully until the transition is complete. Brennan is a CIA veteran and former leader of the National Counter-Terrorism Center. It is anticipated that all three officials will play some role in addressing concerns about harsh interrogation measures and other terrorism-related practices that become legally and ethically controversial during the Bush administration. On Wednesday, it was reported that Obama would appoint Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. On Monday, Obama named four former Clinton-era attorneys to high-level posts within the US Department of Justice (DOJ), including Dean of Harvard Law School Elena Kagan as Solicitor General. Last month, Obama officially announced that he was nominating former DOJ official Eric Holder as the next US attorney general. If confirmed by the Senate, Holder will be the first African American to lead the DOJ. Holder's confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin next week.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 09, 2009 (boomark / email).