Rep. Harman: SWIFT program was hidden from most members of the committee

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-bush27jun27,1,1071892.story?coll=la-news-a_section

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The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Monday that she and many of her colleagues on the panel were briefed on the program by Treasury Department officials only after the administration learned it would be exposed in the press.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) said that she did not learn about the transaction-monitoring program until last month, even though it had been in operation since shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"They knew it was going to leak," Harman said. Because the program was hidden from most members of the committee for more than four years, she said, she had "significant concerns" about the lack of oversight.

Harman noted that the committee chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), had been informed of the operation before the full committee briefing. A spokesman said Hoekstra was told of the program shortly after he became chairman in 2004. Harman said she did not know why she had not also gotten an earlier briefing.