CIA Admits Fault for Snooping on Senate Computers

Oh, hey, the CIA is willing to admit that it did
something wrong—at least when it does something wrong to senators
and their staff.
A fight had brewed between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence
Committee, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as the voice for
her side, over allegations that the CIA had snooped on computers
used by Senate aides to access classified information to prepare
that torture report
I blogged about just a little while ago.

There was never a question as to whether the CIA had accessed
the computers. They said they had and argued it was justified
because they believed Senate aides were somehow hacking into or
accessing documents they weren’t supposed to have access to. The
Department of Justice previously
declined to get involved as each side accused the other of
illegal behavior.

Today
McClatchy DC reports that an internal investigation puts the
fault on the CIA, that employees acted in violation with an
agreement with the Senate, and that Feinstein’s rant about it was
in the right:

CIA Director John Brennan briefed Feinstein and the committee’s
vice chairman, Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, on the CIA inspector
general’s findings and apologized to them during a meeting on
Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Boyd said.

“The director . . . apologized to them for such actions by CIA
officers as described in the OIG (Office of Inspector General
Report),” he said.

Brennan has decided to submit the findings for review by an
accountability board chaired by retired Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh
of Indiana, who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said
Boyd.

“This board will review the OIG report, conduct interviews as
needed, and provide the director with recommendations that,
depending on its findings, could include potential disciplinary
measures and/or steps to address systemic issues,” said Boyd.

Potential discipline! Of course, since the whole thing is over
now anyway, we probably shouldn’t expect too much. Somebody may
retire a few years earlier than expected for a six-figure
consulting job in the private sector!