Denied Access? CIA Director left in the dark for five months

The next time you wonder who is really in control of the government's darkest secrets, consider how long it took for the DCI -- the Director of National Intelligence -- to learn about a secret covert program at his own agency.

We've heard tales that the President of the United States remains off the "need to know list" of UFO and paranormal secret projects, but what about the directors of America's intelligence agencies? Are they being deliberately left in the dark to hide special access compartmentalized intelligence?

In this story published by the Associated Press, it is reported:

CIA Director Leon Panetta has terminated a "very serious" covert program the spy agency kept secret from Congress for eight years, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a House Intelligence subcommittee chairwoman, said Friday.

Democrats revealed late Tuesday that CIA Director Leon Panetta had informed members of the House Intelligence Committee on June 24 that the spy agency had been withholding important information about a secret intelligence program begun after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Schakowsky described Panetta as "stunned" that he had not been informed of the program until nearly five months into his tenure as director.

Panetta had learned of the program only the day before informing the lawmakers, according to a U.S. intelligence official.