Don't Wait for Resignation, say Critics, Obama Should Fire CIA's John Brennan

Though at least one U.S. Senator, Mark Udall of Colorado, has publicly called for the resignation of CIA chief John Brennan after his admission became public on Thursday that the agency spied on the Intelligence Committee’s investigate panel looking at torture during the Bush years, more aggressive critics are saying that President Obama should take the matter into his own hands by firing the man he appointed to the position.

Though he denied the charges heatedly and repeatedly when they first surfaced earlier this year, Brennan admitted this week that agency employees had, in fact, spied on the panel by “improperly accessing” computers used to catalog their investigation. In his statement that followed the revelations, Sen. Udall declared, “I have no choice but to call for the resignation of CIA Director John Brennan.”

“The CIA unconstitutionally spied on Congress by hacking into Senate Intelligence Committee computers. This grave misconduct not only is illegal, but it violates the U.S. Constitution’s requirement of separation of powers. These offenses, along with other errors in judgment by some at the CIA, demonstrate a tremendous failure of leadership, and there must be consequences.”

Other critics, however— making the assumption that Brennan would not willingly step aside—are calling for Obama to step in and take action.

Writing at The Guardian, Trevor Timm, who heads the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports and defends journalism dedicated to transparency and accountability, was among those saying Brennan should be fired from his post.

“This is not the type of guy who is going to resign because of some report he doesn’t like; this is the type of spy who apologizes even though he’s not sorry, who lies because he doesn’t like to tell the truth,” wrote Timm. “The National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency have been allowed to lie brazenly to Congress, the courts and the public for far too long. It’s far past time for the Obama administration to bring a little accountability to the intelligence community. It’s time for Barack Obama to fire John Brennan.”

At the Washingont Post, digital opinions editor James Downie argues that Obama has no choice but to fire Brennan if wants to “restore in U.S. intelligence agencies some semblance of responsibility to the Constitution and the public,” pointing out that Brennan is not the only high-level intelligence official to be caught lying directly to Congress during his tenure.