Washington (AP) - Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says she intends to support President-elect Barack Obama's choice for CIA chief, Leon Panetta.
 
Feinstein's comments Wednesday came after she had earlier expressed reservations about the choice of Panetta, a former White House chief of staff without a formal background in the intelligence community. Obama had not consulted with Feinstein before making the choice, and subsequently apologized to her for the lapse.
 
Feinstein says she spoke with Panetta, a fellow Californian, for about 20 minutes on Tuesday evening and came away confident he'd surround himself with good personnel at the agency.