Despite lingering tension between the U.S. Senate and the Central Intelligence Agency, the Senate voted Thursday to confirm Caroline Krass as the agency’s general counsel.
Krass’ confirmation had been held up largely because of an ongoing dispute between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation of the agency’s interrogation techniques following Sept. 11, 2001.
But on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post, President Barack Obama stated that he supported declassifying the committee’s report reviewing its interrogation program. That cleared the way for Krass’ confirmation. Only four senators voted against her confirmation.
Krass replaces acting general counsel Robert Eatinger, who was heavily involved in legal aspects of the CIA’s interrogation program and has been embroiled in a major clash with the Senate committee—accusing staffers of illegally taking copies of documents used in the investigation. Tension between the agency and the Senate had escalated, but Eatinger remained acting general counsel until Krass’ confirmation.
Prior to her confirmation, Krass was principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. She previously served on the National Security Council as special assistant to the president and special counsel to the president, and was also special assistant U.S. attorney within the National Security Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. In addition to her long career at the Justice Department, Krass served as deputy legal adviser at the National Security Council, as special assistant to the general counsel at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and as an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State.
