In a disconcerting development, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is investigating its own watchdog, the Inspector General of the CIA. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kit Bond (R-MO), chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and other members of Congress expressed concern that such an investigation compromises the independence and integrity of the CIA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

On Oct. 12, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported that the OIG was being investigated by the CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden. Hayden appointed a team to investigate the work of the Inspector General, John Helgerson.

Inspectors general offices function as supervisory bodies for agencies, investigating agency activities for possible mismanagement, waste, fraud or abuse. Oversight of inspectors general is an authority that belongs to Congress, not the very agencies being reviewed by the OIGs. The concern is that agency interference, in this case the CIA director's investigation, will impinge on the traditionally independent role of the OIG in providing objective review of the operations of the agency it monitors.

Wyden wrote a letter expressing his concerns to the Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell. "It is unacceptable for any agency head, deliberately or otherwise, to interfere in the independence of an Inspector General or his office," wrote Wyden. "Inspectors General often force government agencies and personnel to confront uncomfortable facts, but this is an essential part of their role and should be accepted by all agencies, including the CIA. People who know they are doing the right thing are not afraid of oversight."

The New York Times reported that the investigation comes at a time when the OIG is investigating the detention and rendition practices of the CIA. There is concern that such an investigation may be an attempt to temper the findings of the OIG.

This action of the CIA director ties into a larger pattern within the Bush administration of curtailing the power and independence of inspectors general. Earlier this year, OMB Watch reported that the NASA Inspector General was the subject of investigations by Congress for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and developing inappropriately close relations with the chief counsel of NASA. OMB Watch also reported on the General Service Administration's (GSA) efforts to cut the funding of its Office of Inspector General, possibly in retaliation for the OIG's uncovering of nefarious practices at GSA.