CIA Director Apologizes to Lawmakers as Probe Finds Officers Read Senate Emails

Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

The director of the CIA, offering a rare apology, has acknowledged an internal probe’s findings that CIA employees in the Executive Branch improperly spied on the Legislative Branch by searching Senate computers and reading staffers’ emails earlier this year.

According to a declassified CIA inspector general’s report, CIA officers improperly accessed Senate computers, read the emails of Senate staff, and exhibited a “lack of candor” when interviewed by agency investigators. The document, released Thursday by the CIA, is a summary of an internal CIA investigation — which prompted CIA Director John Brennan to abandon his defiant posture in the matter and apologize to Senate Intelligence Committee leaders.

Brennan also has convened an accountability board that will investigate the conduct of the CIA officers and discipline them, if need be.

But the admission already has led to fierce recriminations from Senate lawmakers.

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he has “lost confidence” in Brennan, and urged the administration to appoint an independent counsel to investigate.

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