CIA Director John Brennan Admits and Apologized For CIA Improperly Accessed/Hacked Senate Computers … Calls For Brennan to Resign

WELCOME TO CIA-GATE

According to a declassified CIA inspector general’s report as reported by ABC News, CIA officers improperly accessed Senate computers, read the emails of Senate staff, and exhibited a “lack of candor” when interviewed by agency investigators. CIA Director John Brennan apologized to Senate Intelligence Committee leaders for the CIA’s conduct, which was quite a a turnabout for the CIA directors previous comments that the CIA did anything wrong. Yup, no separation of powers scandal here.

The document, released Thursday by the CIA, is a summary of an internal CIA investigation that prompted CIA Director John Brennan to abandon his defiant posture in the matter and apologize to Senate Intelligence Committee leaders.

The inspector general concluded “that some CIA employees acted in a manner inconsistent with the common understanding reached between” the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA in 2009 regarding access to a shared classified computer network, Boyd said. The shared network had been used by Senate aides to access classified files on CIA interrogations. The CIA penetration occurred after the aides got a hold of documents that the CIA claimed were internal, but which showed that some CIA officials shared misgivings about the treatment of al Qaida detainees.

VIDEO – CNN

WSJ:

Central Intelligence Agency officers snooped on computers used by a Senate committee investigating the CIA’s interrogation program, an internal agency report has concluded—a critical finding in a bitter standoff between two government branches.

CIA Director John Brennan apologized to key senators, who were briefed this week on the CIA inspector general’s report, the agency said on Thursday.

The finding bolsters allegations by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the Senate intelligence committee chairwoman, who has denounced what she described as a CIA search of Senate computers that may have violated the Constitution’s separation of powers and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

Sen. Mark Udall (D., Colo.), a member of the intelligence panel, on Thursday called for Mr. Brennan’s resignation after a briefing on the report. “CIA unconstitutionally spied on Congress,” he said. “These offenses, along with other errors in judgment by some at the CIA, demonstrate a tremendous failure of leadership, and there must be consequences.”

The CIA declined to comment on Mr. Udall’s call for Mr. Brennan’s resignation.

Five CIA employees, two attorneys and three information-technology staff members “improperly accessed or caused access” to the special network, according to a declassified summary reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Those efforts included falsifying identities to get on the Senate network, reading emails and taking screenshots, said an official who read the inspector general’s report.

Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) accuses CIA of spying on Congress

REMEMBER WHEN BRENNAN SAID THE FOLLOWING REGARDING HACKING INTO SENATE COMPUTERS?

CIA chief denies agency spied on Senate computers … “nothing could be further than the truth, we wouldn’t do that. That’s beyond the scope of reason.”

UPDATE I: Two Democrat Senators, Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and Mark Udall call for Brennan to Resign.

Two Democratic senators demanded that Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan resign on Thursday after revelations that the CIA snooped on Senate computers.

Administration officials briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee’s membership on Thursday afternoon about an inspector general report that revealed CIA officials improperly accessed computers used by Senate staffers to research a 6,700-page report on the agency’s Bush-era interrogation and detention practices.

“At this point it would probably be better for the agency, frankly, if he did step aside. I think that the level of trust between the committee and the director has hit a new low,” Heinrich told reporters. He said he had not spoken to Brennan recently.

“I have full confidence in John Brennan,” Obama said in response to a reporter’s question at the end of an afternoon press conference.

UPDATE II: Obama remains confident in CIA head John Brennan despite Senate spying.

President Obama remains confident in CIA Director John Brennan’s leadership despite an independent investigation that concluded that the agency had overreached its authority by spying on Senate staffers.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the findings had not diminished Brennan’s standing in the administration.

When asked whether it damaged his authority or credibility in any way, Earnest said: “Absolutely not.”

Brennan first appointed an outside watchdog to conduct an investigation into the allegations, has “been candid” about the “inconsistencies” that the inspector found, apologized and took the step of appointing a panel to review the need for disciplinary action, he said.