Protesters disrupt Senate hearing; CIA nominee faces scrutiny over drones

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A hearing on President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA was temporarily halted on Thursday after protesters repeatedly prevented John Brennan from speaking.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, ordered the room cleared of spectators after a fifth person began shouting as Brennan began his opening statement.

"We've done this five times now, and five times is enough," Feinstein said, telling security officers to prevent the re-entry of protesters from Code Pink, which describes itself as a women-initiated group for peace and social justice.

Some of the Code Pink protesters removed from the room waved signs accusing Brennan of war crimes because of the U.S. drone program used in attacks on terrorism targets overseas.

The hearing proceeded a few minutes later before a mostly empty gallery.

Tough questions about the drone program, "enhanced" interrogations of terror suspects, and leaks involving covert operations were expected from committee members eager for a clearer picture of counterterror decision-making under Obama.

Democrats, particularly, have not been satisfied with the administration's explanation so far of its rationale for using unmanned drones against U.S. citizens overseas in targeted killings.

And it was unclear what impact a long-sought classified document released to the Senate panel earlier in the day outlining the Justice Department's legal case for that policy will have on their concerns.

Brennan has served as Obama's top counterterrorism adviser and is considered to be behind the administration's dramatic rise in the use of drones against terror suspects.

Several strikes have killed Americans, notably Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni American who had been connected to plots against the United States but never charged with a crime. Awlaki died in a drone attack in September 2011 in Yemen.

An unclassified outline of the administration's policy given to Congress last summer indicated that the government could use lethal force against an American citizen overseas if the person was a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or one of its affiliates and an attack was imminent.

One of the questions the committee submitted to Brennan in advance of the hearing asked how it was determined that an individual was associated with al Qaeda and that a threat was imminent to justify military force. The question did not distinguish between Americans and others.

Brennan responded in writing that related decisions were made on a "case by case basis" as part of a process involving coordination with other agencies.

The White House said this week that questions around the issue have been weighed against legal concerns and discussed publicly.

The Supreme Court has held that the military may constitutionally use force against an American who is a part of enemy forces.

Still civil liberties and other groups want more answers.

Amnesty International weighed in on the debate, saying Congress should grill Brennan on his claim that the Obama administration's drone strikes are "conducted in full compliance with the law."

Other controversies at hand

There are other controversies sure to come up at the hearing as well for Brennan, whose chances to lead the CIA at the start of Obama's first term were scuttled by questions about "enhanced" interrogations of terror suspects.

Senators want to know what he knew about harsh interrogation techniques used when he was at the CIA during the George W. Bush administration.

Brennan, who was the agency's deputy executive director at the time, said in his written responses that he "was aware of the program, but did not play a role in its creation, execution or oversight."

He also said he privately discussed his objections to some of the program with some of his colleagues.

Brennan promised "these techniques would not be used again by the CIA if I were the director."

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said last month there have been contradictions in some of Brennan's statements.

"He says that he had opposed 'enhanced interrogations,' or torture, but there are statements that clearly he made several years ago where he supported it," McCain said. "I'd like to see that issue resolved."

Brennan acknowledged in the questionnaire that he still needed to review the conclusions of the committee's 6,000-page classified report on the agency's detention and interrogation program before the hearing.

He also was aware that he may be asked to elaborate further on his response to a question about whether he thought coercive interrogations were "effective in producing reliable intelligence that saved lives."

Although Brennan said he opposed the enhanced interrogation techniques, "a lot of information, both accurate and inaccurate, came out of interrogation sessions conducted by the CIA, including those where (enhanced techniques) were employed."

Senate lawmakers also are expected to ask about his role in administration leaks about covert operations, including a cyberattack on Iran's nuclear program and a foiled al Qaeda bomb plot in Yemen involving a mole.

Brennan acknowledged in his written responses to committee questions that he voluntarily was interviewed by prosecutors about those investigations. He said in both cases his counsel told him he was only a witness in those probes, not a target.

A powerful figure at White House

As the president's top counterterrorism aide, Brennan continues to be seen as all-powerful.

"I do think John is regarded in terms of the intelligence community, even where he is now, as the first among equals," CNN national security contributor Frances Fragos Townsend said.

As CIA director, Brennan would report to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence. But when there's a call for highly secretive covert action, he would have a direct path to the president, talking to him on the phone or walking right into the Oval Office to brief him.