Former CIA chief explains why intell agencies need to keep Congress in the know

Former CIA Director and Retired Air Force General Michael Hayden used a metaphor from his military service to explain why it’s important for intelligence agencies to brief members of Congress.

“The overwhelming instinct of the intelligence agencies is to brief the Hill, brief them broadly and brief them deeply,” Hayden said during a conference on intelligence reform in Washington put on by the Bipartisan Policy Center on April 6. “To use an Air Force metaphor – since I spent most of my life with the Air Force – if we want these people to be there at the crash, we’ve got to put them on the manifesto.”