“A secret intelligence program canceled by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June [2009] was meant to find and then capture or kill al-Qaida leaders at close range rather than target them with air strikes that risked civilian casualties, government officials with knowledge of the operation said Monday [July 13, 2009]. …Panetta canceled the effort on June 23 [2009] after learning of its existence, its failure to yield results, and the fact that Congress had been unaware of the program since its inception in 2001, according to one official with direct knowledge of the plan. …Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested that the Bush administration broke the law by concealing a CIA counterterrorism program from Congress. Feinstein said the Bush administration’s failure to notify Congress about the 8-year-old counterterrorism program ‘is a big problem, because the law is very clear.’ ”
– Pamela Hess, “US Officials: CIA Program Targeted al-Qaida Leaders,” Associated Press, July 13, 2009