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.

Daily Commentary – Monday, May 12, 2014 – Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel Steps Down After 6 Years on the Job

• Following the massive data breach and financial struggles

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Daily Commentary – Thursday, May 8, 2014 – Move Over Ferris Bueller, Miami Teen Charged With Hacking School Computer to Change Grades

• 18yr old Jose Bautista accused of changing grades for himself and some other students

18 Year Old Jose Bautista Arrested for Hacking Computers to Change His School Grades in Miami, FL

Didn’t we see  Matthew Broderick  do this in the 1983 movie ‘War Games’ for himself and Ally Sheedy?

18 year old Jose Bautista was charged Friday with eight felonies, four counts of intellectual property crimes for modifying a program and four counts of modifying computer user data.  Bautista hacked into the school computers and change the grades for himself and four other students in return for money. Bautista was a senior and scheduled to graduate within a few weeks; however, all that may be in jeopardy as the Miami-Dade School District sent a statement that “expulsion” was still a possibility. The 18 year old  was released after his family posted his $20,000 bail.

War Games 1983 – Changing Grades School Hack

 A Miami high school student is facing felony charges after allegedly hacking into his school website and changing students’ grades, according to WFOR-TV in Miami.

Jose Bautista, 18, was charged Friday with multiple counts including intellectual property offence and offense against computer users. According to WFOR-TV, Bautista was able to hack into the school computers and change the grades for himself and four other students.

The principal at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School turned over Bautista to the police on Thursday, after the student reportedly gave him a written confession.

A video of Bautista’s court appearance showed the high school senior fidgeting in an orange jumpsuit as the charges against him were read.

However, it looks much different in the real world when one is caught and arrested for hacking into a school computer to change grades. Jose Bautista is not going to be getting a chance to take on Joshua to save the world from ‘global thermal nuclear war’ but instead expulsion.

Daily Commentary – Monday, January 20, 2014 – Baby Faced Russian Teen Likely Suspect in Security Breach Software

• 17 year old Russian is the one who developed and sold the software that was used in the Target security breach

Daily Commentary – Monday, January 20, 2014 Download