Rich Irony: Feinstein accuses the CIA of spying on Intel Committee
UPDATE: CIA Director John Brennan denies allegations from Senator Feinstein…
*Warning: These videos might not play on some ‘smart phones.’
The irony here is rich. Dianne Feinstein has been a staunch defender of the NSA’s warrantless searching of Americans’ records, but now the tables are turned. The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the CIA improperly searched a stand-alone computer network established for Congress as part of its investigation into allegations of CIA abuse in a Bush-era detention and interrogation program. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California defended her committee’s work and challenged the CIA on Tuesday as she sought to set the record straight amid various reports of disputes between Congress and the agency.
Sen Feinstein ready to put EFF stickers on all Senate Intel Committee computers RT @ggreenwald http://t.co/PC1y3lU2FV pic.twitter.com/6Ob190Qe9m
— iroots.org activism (@irootsorg) March 11, 2014
Keep your eye on this post from The Intercept for updates…
UPDATE: Virginia Sloan, president of The Constitution Project, a bipartisan legal watchdog group, issued the following statement:
We are outraged by Senator Feinstein’s description of repeated efforts by the CIA to thwart critical and legitimate congressional oversight through delays, attacks, intimidation and attempts to conceal. This is not a partisan issue. Such conduct strikes at the heart of our nation’s constitutional system of separation of powers.
This is truly a defining moment, not only for congressional oversight of the intelligence community, but also for President Obama’s legacy on torture. The White House cannot allow the CIA to drive this process any longer. The president must ensure that the committee’s report is declassified to the fullest extent possible, as well as the CIA’s response to the committee’s study and the so-called Panetta review. But President Obama should not stop there; he should declassify the rendition, detention and interrogation program itself.
UPDATE 2 at 2:34 p.m. ET:
Statement from Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.):
The actions the chairman outlined are the latest events that illustrate why I directly pushed CIA Director Brennan to acknowledge the flaws in and misrepresentations about the CIA’s brutal and ineffective detention and interrogation program. Unfortunately, the CIA responded by trying to hide the truth from the American people about this program and undermine the Senate Intelligence Committee’s oversight role by illegally searching committee computers. The U.S. Constitution is clear and Coloradans agree: The separation of powers and aggressive oversight are fundamental to our democracy, and Coloradans can count on me to continue to protect these foundational pillars no matter who is in the White House.
Statement from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.):
I commend Chairman Feinstein for shining a light on the unprecedented invasion by the CIA into computers used by Senate Intelligence Committee investigators. The CIA’s own recent court filing makes clear that the work product on these computers was and is ‘the property of the Committee.’ I share her concern that this search may have violated both federal law and the US Constitution. In addition to the grave implications for the Constitutional separation of powers, I am extremely troubled that the CIA leadership has neither responded to specific questions about this search nor even acknowledged that it was inappropriate. This is simply not acceptable in a democracy.
I will continue to support Chairman Feinstein’s efforts to get more answers and accountability from the CIA about this search. In my judgment, the Intelligence Community leadership’s misleading statements on interrogation and many other issues has undermined their credibility. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that the facts about the CIA’s detention and interrogation program are made public, so that the American people can make up their own minds about what happened and prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, meanwhile, said “The president has great confidence in John Brennan and confidence in our intelligence community and in our professionals at the CIA.”