The CIA Inspector General's Office has reportedly asked the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into allegations that the agency monitored the computers of Senate staffers who were preparing a report on the detention and interrogation of terror suspects.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that CIA officers gained access to the computer networks used by the Senate Intelligence Committee and that an initial investigation by the agency's inspector general was begun in response to complaints by members of Congress that the staffers were being improperly monitored.
The Times also reported that CIA officials began the alleged monitoring after suspecting that the Senate staffers had unauthorized access to agency documents during the course of their investigation, which has been ongoing for four years and cost approximately $40 million.
McClatchy reported Wednesday that the yet-to-be-released report is expected to harshly criticize the detention and interrogation program, with special attention on how the CIA reportedly mislead the Bush White House and Congress about the specific interrogation tactics used. The report is also expected to conclude that the techniques did not provide intelligence that led to the Pakistan compound where Usama bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs in 2011.
The report has not been declassified, but CIA director John Brennan challenged several facts in the report as well as the intelligence value conclusion in a rebuttal published last June. This past December, Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said that the committee was aware of an internal CIA study that largely agreed with the report and contradicted Brennan's rebuttal.
The Times reported that Udall's statement set in motion the agency's monitoring and prompted a letter from Udall to President Obama Tuesday.
'As you are aware,' the letter reportedly said. 'The CIA has recently taken unprecedented action against the committee in relation to the internal CIA review, and I find these actions to be incredibly troubling for the committee's oversight responsibilities and for our democracy'
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