CIA Admits to Hacking Senate Computers
CIA Admits to Hacking Senate Computers
In a sharp and sudden reversal, the CIA is acknowledging
it improperly tapped into the computers of Senate staffers who were reviewing
the intelligence agency’s Bush-era torture practices.
BY DUSTIN VOLZ July 31, 2014
The Senate Intelligence Committee leader accused the CIA
of interfering with its investigation into the agency's old interrogation
programs.
The Central Intelligence Agency improperly and covertly
hacked into computers used by Senate staffers to investigate the spy agency's
Bush-era interrogation practices, according to an internal investigation.
CIA Director John Brennan has determined that employees
"acted in a manner inconsistent with the common understanding"
brokered between the CIA and its Senate overseers, according to agency
spokesman Dean Boyd.
The stunning admission follows a scathing, 40-minute
speech by Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein on the Senate floor
back in March, in which she accused the CIA of secretly accessing her panel's
computers that were used to review documents related to the government's
torture, detention, and rendition policies deployed during George W. Bush's
presidency. The powerful California Democrat lacerated the CIA for attempting
to impede her panel's investigation and charged the agency with possibly
violating the Constitution.
At the time, Brennan denied Feinstein's accusations,
telling NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell, "As far as the allegations of
the CIA hacking into Senate computers, nothing could be further from the
truth.… That's beyond the scope of reason."
But after being briefed on the inspector general's
findings, Brennan "apologized" on Tuesday to both Feinstein and the
panel's top Republican, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, for the actions of his officers,
spokesman Boyd said.
Brennan has submitted the inspector general's findings to
an accountability board led by retired Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, according to
Boyd. Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, once served on the Senate Intelligence
Committee.
In a statement, Feinstein called Brennan's apology and
the accountability board submission "positive first steps."
"The investigation confirmed what I said on the
Senate floor in March—CIA personnel inappropriately searched Senate
Intelligence Committee computers in violation of an agreement we had reached,
and I believe in violation of the constitutional separation of powers,"
Feinstein said. "This [inspector general] report corrects the record and
it is my understanding that a declassified report will be made available to the
public shortly."
Feinstein's bombshell allegations, as well as the CIA's
charge that her staff removed classified documents from a CIA facility in
Virginia, were both referred to the Justice Department for further
investigation. But earlier this month, the department said it did not have
enough findings to launch a criminal probe into either matter.
Last week, the chairwoman issued a statement commending the
Justice Department for not opening an investigation into her staff, saying it
would "allow the committee to focus on the upcoming release of its report
on the CIA detention and interrogation programs."
The Intelligence Committee voted to make a 500-page
executive summary of its report public, but that literature is currently
undergoing an exhaustive declassification process by the Obama administration.
The Senate report, parts of which have been leaked
already, is expected to condemn the CIA's secret interrogation practices under
the Bush administration during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Democratic Sen. Ron
Wyden, who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, quickly issued a
statement blasting the CIA for its actions.
"The CIA Inspector General has confirmed what
senators have been saying all along: The CIA conducted an unauthorized search
of Senate files, and attempted to have Senate staff prosecuted for doing their
jobs," Wyden said. "Director Brennan's claims to the contrary were
simply not true.
"What's needed now is a public apology from Director
Brennan to staff and the committee, a full accounting of how this occurred, and
a commitment there will be no further attempts to undermine congressional
oversight of CIA activities."
Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, also a member of the
Intelligence panel, said he had "lost confidence in John Brennan,"
adding he was "concerned about the director's apparent inability to find
any flaws in the agency he leads."
The American Civil Liberties Union dismissed Brennan's
apology as "not enough" and called for the Justice Department to
refer the CIA inspector general's report to a federal prosecutor for a full
investigation.
"These latest developments are only the most recent
manifestations of a CIA that seems to believe that it is above and beyond the
law," Christopher Anders, ACLU's senior legislative counsel, said in a
statement. "An uncontrolled—and seemingly uncontrollable—CIA threatens the
very foundations of our Constitution."
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