Senator Feinstein disputes LA Times story that CIA director is unhelpful; looks at security threats

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File: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) questions witnesses at a hearing on Capitol Hill on March 30, 2011 in Washington, DC.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein disputes a “Los Angeles Times” story that claims CIA director David Petraeus has been inaccessible and “balked at providing” classified information to Congress.

In her opening statement as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein said “nothing could be farther from the truth.” She said Petraeus has appeared every month since becoming director, and added that she and the vice chairman have had several phone calls and other meetings with him.

"He has upheld his obligation to keep the committee fully and currently informed," Feinstein concluded, "and I regret that some people felt the need to engage in anonymous complaints.”

Tuesday's hearing is the one annual opportunity to listen in on the nation’s top intelligence officials in public as they discuss the nation's top security threats.

Cyber security, Iran’s nuclear program and instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan were all listed as top concerns for this year. Senator Feinstein also alluded to recent classified reports about North Korea that she called “quite sobering.”

Feinstein also said that attention must be paid to Iran and to the “28-year-old dictator” who controls North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

"Recently this committee received an update from the intelligence committee on North Korea and it was quite sobering," said Feinstein. "I won’t go into any details, because they’re classified."

She also mentioned the north African "Al Qaida in the lands of the Islamic Maghreb" which has raised “tens of millions of dollars” through ransom payments and other questionable activities.

"For the past few years, AQIM has been almost an afterthought. This may be about to change," Feinstein said.

Several committee members also questioned aloud why the intelligence community wasn’t doing more to address cyber threats.