February 6, 2009: Incoming CIA Director Says Officer Accused of Date Rape Should Be Fired

The CIA should have immediately fired Andrew Warren, an officer accused of date rape (see September 2007 and February 17, 2008), says Leon Panetta, the nominee to head the agency. Panetta makes the comments at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Although prosecutors have not yet charged Warren, Panetta says: “The level of behavior involved in this situation, I think is so onerous that the person should have been terminated. And we have the responsibility, as director of the CIA, to implement that kind of termination.” Warren will actually be fired some time in the next few weeks (see Shortly After March 20, 2009). Panettta also says that the current management’s decision not to notify Congress of the case when it came to light last October was incorrect. “I think that was wrong,” says Panetta in answer to a question from committee chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who first learned of the Warren case from ABC News. When asked by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Panetta also says that the case was a “significant intelligence matter,” which triggers automatic reporting standards to Congress. He adds: “My understanding is that first information about this actually came to our attention some time back in October. And I think that was the time to have briefed Congress.” [ABC News, 2/6/2009]