Exactly three years ago, on January 7, 2010, during a press conference regarding the 2009 attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan declared to reporters: "I told the President today I let him down." [1] That admission of responsibility for a major intelligence failure was completely absent from Monday's network morning show coverage of President Obama nominating Brennan to be CIA director.
While NBC, CBS, and ABC focused much of their attention [2] on the President's nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense and the likely confirmation fight that would result, Brennan's nomination was only a brief side note.
NBC's Today provided the longest mention of Brennan, with chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd reporting:
First at CIA, the choice is John Brennan, he has been the President's chief counterterrorism adviser in the West Wing. It's actually a post Brennan has wanted for years and is now going to get it....Interestingly enough, back to John Brennan a second, he was the President's initial choice for CIA before he actually even took the oath of office, but a lot of groups on the left were upset with some of Brennan's positions on torture at the time. Those positions are things that Brennan has since cleared up.
Notice that the only suggestion of controversy with Brennan was to recall liberal complaints.
CBS's This Morning followed the same pattern, as White House
correspondent Bill Plante explained: "...going back to Brennan for a
second. He was considered once before for CIA Director back in 2008 but
there were questions about whether he was involved in the so-called
enhanced interrogation techniques when he was in the CIA during the
previous administration. He denied it."
ABC's Good Morning America
relegated Brennan's nomination to a single sentence during a news brief
by Josh Elliot: "Also today, the President, today, is expected to name
John Brennan, his top terrorism adviser, to lead the CIA, replacing
David Petraeus, who resigned in a sex scandal."
During that same 2010 press conference [3],
while trying to explain what went wrong and how a terrorist could have
managed to smuggle explosives onto a passenger aircraft without warning,
Brennan acknowledged: "I am the President's assistant for Homeland
Security and counterterrorism, and I told him that I will do better and
we will do better as a team."
Will those in the media actually do their job and confront the
administration on Brennan's competency as an intelligence official?
Here is a transcript of Todd's January 7 Today report on the Hagel and Brennan nominations:
7:02AM ET
LAUER: Let's begin on a Monday morning with a battle that's brewing
over the President's next pick for secretary of defense, former Senator
Chuck Hagel. Chuck Todd is NBC's chief White House correspondent. Chuck,
good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Hagel's Uphill Battle; Controversial Former Sen. to Be Nominated as Defense Secretary]
CHUCK TODD: Good morning, Matt. President Obama is actually set to name
two members, two new members of his national security team today, a new
CIA director and, of course, a new secretary of defense. First at CIA,
the choice is John Brennan, he has been the President's chief
counterterrorism adviser in the West Wing. It's actually a post Brennan
has wanted for years and is now going to get it.
As for Defense, this is actually the third time the President's had to
fill an opening at the Pentagon. And for the second time, his choice is a
Republican. This time it's former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel. But
Hagel's nomination is already touching off a big political fight. Before
Chuck Hagel can take over at the Pentagon, he must be confirmed by the
Senate, and he's already facing an uphill battle. Even though Democrats
control the Senate, NBC News has learned as many as ten Democratic
senators could vote against Hagel. Publicly, leading Democrats have not
expressed much support.
CHARLES SCHUMER [SEN. D-NY]: I'd have to study his record.
TODD: And despite Hagel's twelve years in the Senate as a Republican,
he may find support from his old Republican colleagues hard to come by.
MITCH MCCONNELL: I think there will be a lot of tough questions of Senator Hagel, but he'll be treated fairly.
TODD: Known for his independence, Hagel became a thorn in the side of Senate Republicans in 2007, turning against the Iraq war.
CHUCK HAGEL: The most divisive issue in this country since Vietnam.
TODD: And Hagel bonded with then-candidate Obama during a trip to Iraq in 2008, and the two have remained close since.
BARACK OBAMA: I've served with Chuck Hagel, I know him, he is a patriot.
TODD: Still, Hagel faces questions about his support for Israel, after
once referring to certain pro-Israeli groups as a, quote, "Jewish
lobby," offending some lawmakers.
LINDSEY GRAHAM: This is an in-your-face nomination by the President to all of us who are supportive of Israel.
TODD: And some gay rights advocates are upset over comments Hagel made
in 1998 about an openly gay U.S. ambassador nominee, who Chuck Hagel
called "openly aggressively gay." Former Congressman Barney Frank, who's
also gay and may end up a temporary senator from Massachusetts during
Hagel's confirmation hearings, blasted the Nebraska Republican last
week, saying, "I cannot think of any other minority group in the U.S.
today where such a negative statement and action made in 1998 would not
be an obstacle."
Aides say the President is sticking by Hagel because of his desire to
have a defense secretary who wore the uniform and who will be
comfortable standing up to the generals. And debates with those generals
over Afghanistan troop levels became quite contentious in 2010. In a
new book, the President's former Afghanistan commander, General Stanley
McChrystal, noted what he called, "the emergence of an unfortunate
deficit of trust between the White House and the Department of Defense."
The President's going to make these picks formal later after lunchtime
today, Matt. Interestingly enough, back to John Brennan a second, he was
the President's initial choice for CIA before he actually even took the
oath of office, but a lot of groups on the left were upset with some of
Brennan's positions on torture at the time. Those positions are things
that Brennan has since cleared up. Matt.
LAUER: Alright, Chuck Todd in Washington this morning. Chuck, thank you very much.