General Haden has ordered an inquiry into the work of the CIA’s Inspector General, John L. Helgerson.

Any move by the agency’s director to examine the work of the inspector general would be unusual, if not unprecedented, and would threaten to undermine the independence of the office, some current and former officials say.

Frederick P. Hitz, who served as C.I.A. inspector general from 1990 to 1998, said he had no first-hand information about current conflicts inside the agency. But Mr. Hitz said any move by the agency’s director to examine the work of the inspector general would “not be proper.”

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Mr. Hitz, who now teaches at the University of Virginia. “Under the statute, the inspector general has the right to investigate the director. How can you do that and have the director turn around and investigate the I.G.?”

This is clearly an attempt to intimidate or remove the inspector general. It’s pretty much unprecedented, and it is profoundly antithetical to the most basic sort of principals of bureaucratic accountability, so it’s pretty certain that Bush and His Evil Minions^™ have knowledge of and approved this.