Snider will be replaced temporarily by his deputy, Rick Cinquegrana, a former aide to right-wing Republican Congressman Christopher Cox in the House of Representatives investigation into alleged transfers of US nuclear missile technology to China during the Clinton administration.
Snider is a long-time CIA employee who retired last year as inspector-general of the agency. He has close ties with current CIA Director George Tenet, who appointed him to the post. Tenet was staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Snider was the committee’s general counsel.
The two committees were to begin joint hearings in late May—more than four months after the investigation was initially announced, and more than eight months after the terrorist attacks themselves. Now press reports suggest that Snider’s removal may be followed by a further staff purge, with the hearings pushed back well into the summer.
A section of the Republican right initially criticized Snider’s appointment, suggesting that he was too close to Tenet, the only prominent Clinton administration official to be kept on after George W. Bush entered the White House. Bush has continued to back Tenet however, and the White House praised the selection of Snider by the two congressional committees, even as it repeatedly sought to block or delay the investigation.
Snider is a long-time CIA employee who retired last year as inspector-general of the agency. He has close ties with current CIA Director George Tenet, who appointed him to the post. Tenet was staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Snider was the committee’s general counsel.
The two committees were to begin joint hearings in late May—more than four months after the investigation was initially announced, and more than eight months after the terrorist attacks themselves. Now press reports suggest that Snider’s removal may be followed by a further staff purge, with the hearings pushed back well into the summer.
A section of the Republican right initially criticized Snider’s appointment, suggesting that he was too close to Tenet, the only prominent Clinton administration official to be kept on after George W. Bush entered the White House. Bush has continued to back Tenet however, and the White House praised the selection of Snider by the two congressional committees, even as it repeatedly sought to block or delay the investigation.