Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
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Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
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Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Title Sequence
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Hosts Paul Duke, Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer. Duke gives intro to program: Account of Senate investigations of Central America conflict, Tension between Congress and the CIA, and efforts to promote American shoe industry.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Paul Duke introduces first segment on Congress and the CIA. Congressmen angered over CIA aid to Contras in Nicaragua.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Representative Dan Glickman (D - Kansas) attacks CIA mining of harbors in Nicaragua. It s clear however, that the recent disclosures of CIA mining of Nicaraguan harbors in violation of principles of international law, destroys our ability to play any constructive role whatsoever in that region.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Fidel Castro, in fatigues, and aides marching through street.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Shot of people walking down stairs from jet airliner to runway.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Former CIA Chief William Colby, The Good Ole Days were days which Congress didn t really want to know, didn t want to ask. And that stems out of the old tradition of the spy service, and the team runs the spy and nobody else should be worried about it.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Hallway outside of Congressional hearing room, men entering, security guards. Meeting of Senate Church Committee. Close up of Frank Church (D - Idaho) CIA chief Richard Helms testifying, Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, whom I worked for most closely, usually left it to me as to how the order was to be carried out within the agency. I don t think that any of them had ever gone to the pains to find out exactly what the agency hierarchy was or who would be the next fellow to learn about it. So they left that judgment to me.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Intelligence Committee meeting.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Representative Lee Hamilton (D - Indiana) It is apparent that there is not an easy relationship between the Congress and the Central Intelligence Agency. Neither group has the confidence of the other.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
CIA chief William Casey exiting Capitol.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Senator David Durenberger (R - Minnesota) Right now that trust relationship has broken down. Over the last year or two, it has broken down to a degree between the Committee and the Administration. And the serious problem is that it is now in danger of breaking down between the 16 members of the Committee and the rest of our colleagues because they re not sure we can trust the Administration, so why should they trust us.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
External shot of Capitol.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Representative Lee Hamilton (D - Indiana) The Central Intelligence Agency does respond to our questions. But they are very careful not to give us information beyond what we ask for. So there s a heavy burden on us to ask the right questions.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Former CIA Chief William Colby, That s a flip remark and it s an easy one to say. But I think in the experience of most of the Senators and Congressmen, the CIA comes up and gives a briefing. I mean the Nicaragua briefing, for example, apparently had a reference in it to mining of ports. Now, that s a fairly descriptive statement because you re not going to put mines in a port without them going off some time. Now, you have to brief about a large number of things and therefore you are going to have to generalize to a degree. You can t give every detail in every briefing or you d be up there the rest of the week.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Senator Daniel Inouye (D - Hawaii), chair of first Senate Intelligence Committee, It didn t say that we ll be briefing you and you ll have to be on the lookout because out of these 100 pages we may come across with a certain code word. And if you don t get that code word, it s your fault. Now, we weren t set up to work like that.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Shots of Senate Intelligence Committee
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Senator David Durenberger (R - Minnesota) The staffs are not working well together. And that s a joint responsibility of Committee staff and the CIA. The CIA is not volunteering information. And the Committee staff is not going looking for information.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Representative Lee Hamilton (D - Indiana) I m not personally satisfied with the way the system functions. I don t think we do nearly a good enough job of oversight.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Senator David Durenberger (R - Minnesota) The staff is going to be a lot tougher with them in the future. And we re going to have to treat them like a bunch of kids I guess and set-up some guidelines that say every day you re going to do this, and every week you re going to do that and every month you re going to do that.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Representative Lee Hamilton (D - Indiana) Eventually it comes down to a question of money. Will the Central Intelligence Agency get the money they want for the particular activity.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Senator Daniel Inouye (D - Hawaii), Worse comes to worse, they can wipe out the Agency.
Lawmakers - April 26, 1984
Paul Duke in studio with Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer discuss the CIA, efforts to amend relations, pressure on Casey to resign, effect being Casey had to grovel quite a bit to Congress to remain in office. Mining Nicaragua harbors is uncomfortable to voters, especially women worried about the Reagan Administration s attitude toward war.