Meanwhile the Senate Intelligence Committee opened hearings Tuesday on the nomination of John Negroponte to become the country’s first national intelligence director. If confirmed, Negroponte will oversee some 15 intelligence agencies and give the president’s daily intelligence briefing. During the hearing Negroponte vowed to “push the envelope” in asserting his authority overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies. He said the CIA would report to him and that he would assert control over the National Security Agency and other agencies. Negroponte is a career diplomat who has had five ambassadorships over the last forty years. On Tuesday he came under criticism for his tenure as ambassador to Honduras during the early 1980s. Documents surfaced this week that shed new light on how Negroponte supported the arm the contra rebels in Nicaragua to overthrow the Sandinista government. We’ll have more on the Bolton and Negroponte hearings in a few minutes.