"We do a lot of foreign intelligence collection. We don't run down to the Hill and say, 'How about this?' " said a former U.S. intelligence official familiar with the program, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
More than a year ago, however, Hayden told subordinates that the intelligence committees would have to be briefed if the program crossed certain thresholds, according to former officials.
The key issue, the officials said, was whether the agency was taking steps in its implementation of the program that could be discovered by foreign intelligence services and might therefore surface publicly to the embarrassment of the United States.
The program was coming "closer to [being] something in the real world" when Hayden issued the guidance, one former official said. But the activity never reached that point. Hayden was among a number of high-level CIA officials, including Deputy Director Stephen Kappes and the head of the clandestine service, Michael Sulick, who were kept apprised of the program's progress.
One former official said that Hayden, Kappes and Sulick were "very cautious" in their handling of the program and that they made decisions to narrow its focus.
The official said the program fell between foreign intelligence collection and covert action - the latter involves taking steps to influence events overseas, and generally falls within more stringent congressional notification rules.
Some former high-level CIA officials said they are puzzled about which program could be at the center of the budding controversy.
"A lot of people thought they were Jason Bourne and came up with ideas," said a former senior CIA officer. "There were programs that were kind of wild that were considered in 2001. But to my knowledge, within six months, we didn't get one follow-on attack and people kind of gave up on those ideas."
The House Intelligence Committee has approved new legislation that would make it significantly more difficult for the executive branch to withhold information on intelligence activities from Congress. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the legislation.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano declined to comment Saturday on the program or on Cheney's role, which was initially reported by The New York Times.
