According to the Congressional Record on January 12, 2015 members of the Select Committee on Intelligence met in a secret “closed door session” to receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of the intelligence community. What members were discussing in this particular case is unclear.
The Committee conducts periodic reviews of intelligence programs or events, ranging from routine and continuing study (the conduct of covert action programs and intelligence operations) to formal inquiries.
By law, the President is required to ensure that the Committee is kept “fully and currently informed” of intelligence activities—meaning that intelligence agencies are required, generally in writing, to notify the Committee of its activities and analysis. This includes keeping the Committee informed of covert actions and any significant intelligence failure.
Under certain circumstances, the President may restrict access to covert action activities to only the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, and the House and Senate leadership. These members often meet in secret closed door sessions.
By law, even in these rare cases, all Committee Members will be aware of such circumstances and be provided a “general description” of the covert action information that is fully briefed only to the leadership.
The Committee was created by the Senate in 1976 to “oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government,” to “submit to the Senate appropriate proposals for legislation and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities and programs,” and to “provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Normally the Committee meets roughly twice a week for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, generally in closed session. Most hearings involve appearances by senior Intelligence Community officials—heads of agencies, senior program managers, and senior intelligence analysts—who present testimony and answer Senators’ questions. The topics for hearings include agency activities, intelligence collection programs, and intelligence analysis on a geographic region or issue (e.g., stability in the Middle East, Iran’s nuclear program, terrorism threats).
The Committee will occasionally meets in open session, such as annual hearings to receive intelligence testimony on the national security threats to the United States, and for the Committee to consider the President’s nominees to intelligence positions requiring Senate confirmation, but this is rare.
The Committee has 15 Senators: eight from the majority party and seven from the minority. The one-seat majority is dictated by Senate resolution and, unlike most other committees, does not change in proportion with the overall Senate ratio of majority to minority membership. The Committee structure is intended to reflect the nonpartisan nature of intelligence and encourage the Committee to work in a bipartisan manner. By resolution, the 15 SSCI members include two members (one per side) from the Appropriations, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary Committees in order to ensure appropriate coordination with those Committees. The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee serve as ex officio SSCI members.
While we can’t be absolutely sure of the exact purpose of this particular meeting on January 12, 2015 it is speculated that it may have involved classified intelligence briefings centering around the terrorist attacks in Paris.
This is based on a review of comments by Senators who are ranking members of the committee within the first 24 hours following the date of the closed door session.
On January 12, 2015, for example Senator Angus King admitted that he had received “classified intelligence briefings in the last 24 hours”.
Senator King then revealed that there appears to be a “connection” between these people who carried out the attacks and AQAP (Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula). Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP; Arabic: “Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, “al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula”; Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, “Organization of Jihad’s Base in the Arabian Peninsula”), also known as Ansar al-Sharia (Arabic: جماعة أنصار الشريعة, Jamā‘at Anṣār ash-Sharī‘ah, “Group of Helpers of the Sharia”), is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. AQAP was formed in January 2009 from a merger of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi branches. Among other things it seek the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy.
At least one of the identified members responsible for carrying out the attack on Charlie Hebdo shooting were known associates of the AQAP. One was: Saïd Kouachi who was apparently on a US no fly list.
In this particular case King was talking with a reporter from CNN news network.
King went on to explained that the type of terrorist attack in Paris is the kind intelligence officials are trying to prevent in the U.S…
See video: Sen. King: We can’t make guarantees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpEvqNGUP1g
On January 12, 2015 the Senate Select Intelligence Chairwoman Diane Feinstein made statements regarding what she called “America’s Achilles heel”, talking about the US Visa waiver program.
So the session may have been about US flaws in the terrorist screening program that could have allowed those same attackers to come to the US.
See video: Senator Dianne Feinstein: visa waiver program is Achilles’ heel of U.S. – LoneWolf Sager https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBXUw9K4AWY