CIA Accused of Spying on Senate Staffers

Inspector General looking into clashes over torture report
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 5, 2014 7:54 AM CST
Feds Investigate Claims CIA Spied on Senate
Newly declassified documents sit atop a table bearing the CIA's seal in this file photo.   (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The CIA's Inspector General is calling for the Justice Department to look into allegations that the agency illegally spied on aides to the Senate Intelligence Committee as they gathered information for a potentially contentious report on the CIA's torture program, McClatchy reports. The CIA had insisted that the Intelligence Committee staffers use computers at Agency headquarters to review millions of documents related to its interrogation program. The committee believes the CIA monitored those computers, despite a specific agreement not to, according to McClatchy sources. The 6,000-page report remains classified, but the New York Times notes that it is a "withering indictment" of CIA tactics and results.

Mark Udall yesterday sent President Obama a letter saying that, "As you are aware, the CIA has recently taken unprecedented action against the committee," without specifying what that action was. Committee chair Dianne Feinstein would confirm only that "there is an IG investigation." The committee has been battling to release its unflattering report, which the agency wants to keep classified. Udall accused the agency in December of withholding an internal review from the committee—and that apparently led the CIA to accuse the committee of gaining unauthorized access to agency databases, leading to this current dispute. (More Central Intelligence Agency stories.)

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