Intelligence director’s refusal to cooperate with GAO irks lawmakers

The refusal of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte to cooperate with a Government Accountability Office review of dozens of agencies' information sharing efforts is causing a stir on Capitol Hill.

Negroponte's lack of cooperation was one of the issues addressed by GAO in a report issued Monday on how agencies share sensitive information among counterterrorism operatives. The report (GAO-06-385) called for less restriction of "sensitive but unclassified" data.

"It takes leadership with someone from the administration," said Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., who is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. Sabo went on to single out Negroponte as a potential catalyst for change, saying it is within his control -- and his responsibility -- to put an end to "massive overclassification" of data.

Legislation that will force unification of data codes and interdepartmental sharing is unlikely, Sabo added.

The report also spread criticism from the Office of Management and Budget and the Homeland Security Department -- initially responsible for information-sharing policies -- to Negroponte for failing to meet deadlines to improve how dozens of agencies share counterterrorism information.

OMB, the report stated, agreed to collaborate if necessary after Negroponte's office finishes its work on the policies. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence refused to comment to GAO, insisting that Capitol Hill's investigative arm has no authority to review its work. This is what brought Negroponte the ire of legislators.

"I was disappointed to see that the ODNI declined to respond to GAO's report," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in a statement. "The ODNI should cooperate with its efforts so that Congress can be better informed as it works to help protect the nation against terrorism."

"The intelligence community generally doesn't like to give up anything" to audits, said Richard Kessler, staff director for Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.

The GAO report cited examples of some changes that bring 26 agencies closer to realizing the goal of better coordinating information that could fall into any of 56 different "sensitive but classified" categories. But it also recognized a need for not too closely associating information that is vastly different.

In its recommendations, GAO called upon Negroponte and ODNI to "assess progress, address barriers and propose changes … to help achieve more accountability."