McCain Plans Inquiry Into Pentagon Spy Unit

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that he would look into a reported move by the Pentagon to reinterpret U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld broad authority over spy operations abroad.

McCain, responding to a report in Sunday’s Washington Post, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he would raise the question at hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is a member of the panel.

The Post, citing Pentagon documents and interviews with participants, reported that Rumsfeld had created a unit called the Strategic Support Branch to end “near total dependence” on the CIA for human intelligence.

The unit, which has been operating for two years, deploys teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists with special operations forces, the Post said. The Pentagon contended the defense intelligence missions were subject to fewer legal constraints, the newspaper said.

Defense Department spokesman Lawrence DiRita on Sunday said there was “no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in the Washington Post article.”

“Further, the department is not attempting to ‘bend’ statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article,” DiRita said in a statement.

McCain said the Pentagon’s move was “a product of the frustration with the CIA of a failure to have decent human intelligence.”

“Should the Armed Services Committee look at it? Yes. And should we know more about it? Yes,” McCain said.

A CIA spokesman said the agency had no immediate comment.