Brennan withdraws from intelligence post consideration

On November 16, 2008, we reported that John Brennan, former head of the National Counterterrorism Center and supporter of so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques”, was  said to be “a potential candidate for a top intelligence post” (the CIA) under Barack Obama. On November 22, a group of 200 psychology professionals issued an open letter to the US President-Elect, expressing strong concerns about the possibility of Brennan heading the CIA. Three days later, Brennan sent Obama a letter [pdf] requesting that his “name be withdrawn from consideration for a position within the Intelligence Community”. An Obama spokesman has confirmed that the President-Elect has accepted Brennan’s request. An ABC News commentator has correctly pointed out that “Brennan […] continues to work on the Obama Transition Team and though he removed his name from consideration for an Intelligence job, there’s nothing to say he won’t land a spot in the Obama administration”. [IA]

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