The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether its officers were monitoring members of the Senate Intelligence Committee while they were working on a report about the previous administration's detention and interrogation programs. That inquiry, which was reported by The New York Times and the McClatchy news agency, came only after members of Congress complained to the CIA Inspector General's office about improper monitoring of the committee members' computers.
A 6,300 page report on post-9/11 detention and interrogation
The alleged meddling came as the Intelligence Committee was compiling a 6,300-page inquiry into how the US used interrogation techniques during the George W. Bush administration. According to McClatchy, the still-classified report is a "searing indictment of the program," which made use of waterboarding and other interrogation techniques to garner intelligence information following the 9/11 attacks. The report also paints the picture that the CIA deceived Congress and others about those techniques.
The issue was brought to a head following a letter published yesterday by Senator Mark Udall, of Colorado, asking President Obama once again to declassify the committee's report in order to clarify "inaccurate" information released by the CIA. Udall also noted that he was against the current nomination for a new CIA general counsel, saying the more pressing matter was concerns over the agency's interference with the Senate committee's oversight.