Sen. Dianne Feinstein –
generally a lover and defender of our growing surveillance state –
took to the
Senate floor this morning to confirm and clarify a story that
came out
last week: The CIA snooped on a computer network Congress was
using to investigate CIA abuses.
At the heart of this conflict between the executive and
legislative branches is a
report Congressional staffers have put together said to be
extremely critical of the brutal interrogation methods (torture)
used by the CIA under the Bush administration. The massive
6,300-page inquiry is classified, but many are pressuring the
Department of Justice and White House for its release.
On the Senate floor, Feinstein said that she had not been
responding to previous media reports, but felt that she had to come
forward now due to inaccurate information being pushed out. To
bulletpoint her 50-minute speech:
- When President Barack Obama came into office and Feinstein
became chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, her committee
began an inquiry into “enhanced interrogation” methods used by the
CIA. - Then-CIA Director Leon Panetta offered to set up a computer
system at the CIA for congressional staffers to access CIA
documents to work on this report. The only CIA personnel who were
to have access to this computer system would be IT personnel, and
they were not allowed to share information with anybody else in the
CIA. - CIA personnel searched the computer this January anyway and in
one previous incident in 2010. - In 2010, staffers using this system discovered that some CIA
documents they had been consulting for their report were no longer
accessible. First the CIA blamed IT personnel. Then the CIA said
the removal was on the orders of the White House. The White House
denied giving any orders to remove documents. Eventually Feinstein
learned the CIA had removed more than 800 pages of documents from
the system in February 2010 without the knowledge or approval of
the committee. After consultation with the White House, the
committee was promised it wouldn’t happen again. - Later in 2010, staffers discovered draft versions of an
internal CIA report (called the Panetta Review) available in the
computer system that also analyzed the detention and “enhanced
interrogation” methods used in the war on terror. Feinstein said
the documents acknowledged “significant CIA wrongdoing.” - One of the reasons Feinstein has come forward is because it had
been “suggested in the press” that congressional staffers somehow
hacked the CIA to get these documents. They were found using the
search tools provided by the CIA on the computer system also
provided by the CIA. The committee has no idea who provided the
Panetta Review documents or whether providing access was
intentional, perhaps by a whistleblower. - After the Senate Intelligence Committee released its 6,300-page
report critical of the CIA’s detention and torture techniques, the
CIA officially responded that it agreed with some findings but
disagreed in some other critical areas. Feinstein revealed this
morning that the internal Panetta Review actually showed the CIA
came to some of the same conclusions where they now claim they
disagree. - The Panetta Review documents then disappeared from the computer
system the committee staff was accessing. But the committee has a
hard copy of the documents (with sensitive information like names
and locations redacted) in its own possession. - In January of this year, Feinstein told the CIA the committee
wanted access to the full Panetta Review. The CIA said no. - Then, CIA director John Brennan came to Feinstein to tell them
that the CIA had searched the committee computers as well as the
network drive where staff members were doing their work. Brennan
said the search was in response to belief that some staffers
already had access to the full Panetta Review. “The CIA did not ask
the committee or its staff if the committee had access to the
internal review or how we obtained it,” Feinstein said. “Instead
the CIA just went and searched the committee’s computers. The CIA
has still not asked the committee any questions about how the
committee acquired the Panetta Review.” Instead, anonymous
allegations made it into the press suggesting that the committee
had gotten access to the review through criminal means. - Feinstein has sent a letter to the CIA asking by what authority
are they claiming to be able to search the Senate committee’s
computers. They have not responded. She has “grave concerns” the
search violated the separation of powers and threatened the
oversight authority the Senate has over the CIA. She added that the
search may have also violated the Fourth Amendment (as every
security reporter familiar with her support for mass metadata
collection laughs and laughs and laughs), as well as the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act (that’s the law the Department of Justice used
against Aaron Swartz) and the executive order that prohibits the
CIA from domestic surveillance. - CIA officials have since forwarded the matter to the Department
of Justice for potential criminal investigation of committee
staffers for having access to the Panetta Review. Feinstein
reiterated that it was the CIA itself who provided the staff with
access to the review. She accused the CIA of trying to intimidate
her staff.
CIA Director Brennan has already denied Feinstein’s accusations
and has said he wouldn’t step down unless asked by the
president.
In December, former Reason intern Jess Remington noted the White
House’s
suppression of the Senate committee’s torture report.
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