got geoint?

Welcome once again to the Monday morning news kick off. We hope everyone had a restful weekend. As many of us were en-route to San Diego this weekend for what will be a most exciting ESRI International User Conference (stay tuned for more ESRI coverage), we wanted to catch up on the latest news headlines from the past few days. And, wow, there is plenty of news going around — especially when it comes to Dick Cheney. There were some revelations this weekend that he hid mysterious counter-terrorism campaigns from law makers on the Hill. Surprising? No. Scroll down for more news you can use.

Cheney’s Secret Counter-terrorism Program Causes Stir
We are going to file this one under the “gee, we are not surprised” category. It was disclosed this weekend that former Vice President Dick Cheney hid a secret, mysterious CIA counterterror program from Capitol Hill leaders. And Obama’s own attorney general is weighing charges in the alleged CIA-led torture of terror suspects. Wow, perhaps Nancy Pelosi was actually not briefed on interrogation techniques after all? And, what is up with Eric Holder now thinking about leaning towards charging alleged torturers? Read more here.

ABC’s Stephanopoulos Suggests Pelosi ‘Vindicated’ in Her Charge the CIA Lies
Speaking of Nancy Pelosi, George Stephanopoulos came out saying that the revelation of the secret CIA program vindicates Nancy Pelosi, or that or that they at least “bolster” her claims about the CIA lying to her. He even seemed to be pushing this messaging while Pelosi’s office was reluctant to do so themselves. What does that say? Surely, Pelosi’s office is not trying to take the high road? That just does not happen in Washington, D.C. Read more here.

Former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden Strikes Back
Former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden angrily struck back Saturday at assertions that the Bush administration’s post-9/11 surveillance program was more far-reaching than imagined and was largely concealed from congressional overseers. In an interview with the Associated Press, Hayden said that top members of Congress were kept well informed all along the way, notwithstanding protests from some that they were kept in the dark. Read more here.

Warrantless Wiretapping Yielded ‘Limited’ Results, Report Says
The question of the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program under President Bush sparked intense debate within the administration, but in the end, the program yielded “limited” results, according to a new report. The internal watchdogs for several intelligence branches have handed a report to Congress describing in detail the debate over the terrorist surveillance program, as well as its aftermath. Read more here.

Happy Monday!!

Tags: CIA, Dick Cheney, Eric Holder, ESRI, Former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, GEOINT, Intelligence Community, Nancy Pelosi, Secret CIA counterterrorism programs, USGIF, Warrantless Wiretapping