Hayden says he briefed Congress

WASHINGTON – Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden angrily struck back Saturday at assertions the Bush administration’s post-Sept. 11 surveillance program was more far-reaching than imagined and was largely concealed from congressional overseers.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Hayden maintained that top members of Congress were kept well-informed all along the way, notwithstanding protests from some that they were kept in the dark.

“One of the points I had in every one of the briefings was to make sure they understood the scope of our activity. ‘They’ve got to know this is bigger than a bread box,’ I said,” said Hayden, who also previously headed the National Security Agency.

Hayden was reacting to a report issued Friday by U.S. inspectors general who called the surveillance program in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks “unprecedented.” The report also questioned the program’s legal rationale and the excessive secrecy that enshrouded it.

Hayden, who in 2001 designed and carried out the secret program, said he was distressed by suggestions that Congress was not fully informed. He said he personally briefed top lawmakers on the entire surveillance operation and said he felt that they supported it.

The details of the wider surveillance program described by the federal investigative report remain classified. The program included the wiretapping of American phone and computer lines.