Actually, Lindy, all presidents have "gatekeepers" control the flow of information in for his review or action. There are just too many demands on his time to deal with every bureaucrat that wants to talk on a moment's notice. Usually, when someone does get to see him, the President has already been briefed by these handlers and may even have a set of options layed out, or even recommendations on which one to follow. Needless to say, these aides have a great deal of power and influence, and the President is often judged by the character of the men he selects to do this work. As you can imagine, these men have an opportunity to actually control policy simply by the way they do their job. The President relies on them totally for what he hears, and to a certain extent, what he does about it. When these men have an agenda of their own, as I have always suspected in the case of this president, the potential for problems is enormous.

BTW, the MSM has been very wary of Mr Tenet, the questions he's been getting on the TV news are quite tough, and he appears to have his hands full answering them. He is not getting a free ride by any means.