Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is “concerned” about a Central Intelligence Agency policy that allows the agency’s employees to moonlight for private companies. Feinstein intends to “ask questions about it” in coming days. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, tells National Review Online that he is open to holding a hearing to look into the matter.

“I assume that the vast majority of CIA employees who are moonlighting probably have very specific objectives in what they are trying to accomplish,” Hoekstra says. “That being said, I absolutely think it is appropriate for Congress to make sure there are no conflicts of interest involved. That is an essential function of our oversight committee. If our staff found out that someone was working for a defense contractor like Raytheon, we would hold a hearing to find out what’s going on. Or, if we just found that it was just 24-year-olds working at Barnes & Noble or Five Guys on the weekend, would probably conclude that the policy is working within the CIA.”

Eamon Javers at Politico reports that CIA moonlighting isn’t all burgers and fries:

In one case, these active-duty officers moonlighted at a hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to tap their expertise in “deception detection,” the highly specialized art of telling when executives may be lying based on clues in a conversation . . . close ties between active-duty and retired CIA officers at one consulting company show the degree to which CIA-style intelligence gathering techniques have been employed by hedge funds and financial institutions in the global economy. The firm is called Business Intelligence Advisors, and it is based in Boston. BIA was founded and is staffed by a number of retired CIA officers, and it specializes in the arcane field of “deception detection.” BIA’s clients have included Goldman Sachs and the enormous hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, according to spokesmen for both firms.

A U.S. intelligence official, on background, says that example is not a fair representation of the program. “The example in the Politico story dates back years,” he says. “In the mid-1990s, the officers sought and received approval to form a company. There are no currently serving CIA officers who are working on the side for Business Intelligence Advisors. This is truly old stuff.”

“My understanding is that the CIA has very, very tight controls for what kind of jobs employees can take while at the agency,” Hoekstra adds. “This seems to be a longstanding policy that helps people, especially entry-level employees at the CIA, to make a decent living while living in a high-cost city. They moonlight to make ends meet. With a government salary, if they want to save up to buy a Ford Mustang or Chevy Camaro, some can do that by moonlighting. Or, they can use the extra jobs to help pay for retirement or college funds.”

CIA spokesman George Little defended the moonlighting policy in a conversation with NRO. He says the agency “reviews requests for outside employment using yardsticks of legality, propriety, and, of course, security.”

“There’s a rigorous process to all this — one that’s been in place for decades,” Little says. “The CIA’s mission always — always — comes first when such requests are examined for approval or denial. It’s wrong to think these individuals simply transferred current operational tradecraft to a for-profit venture. No. The fact that people have the energy and creativity to run a business outside of work hours shouldn’t be held against them. This is America, after all.”