Faced with two reports offering different conclusions about the CIA’s spying on Senate staffers, the White House chose to back the one that found no wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, the Agency Accountability Board released its findings on the CIA-Senate row, which concluded that “the actions and decisions” of agency personnel were “reasonable.”
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest, on Thursday, briefed reporters saying, “The administration has a lot of confidence in the report that was put forward by this group.”
The findings of that report directly contradict previous conclusions by the agency’s inspector general, who did find wrongdoing.
In a blistering speech against the CIA last year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), then chair of the Intelligence Committee, charged that agents improperly monitored Senate investigators that were reviewing documents on a secure network set up by the CIA. She said she had “grave concerns” that the agency’s actions violated the law.
Fellow Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) agreed, saying that if it’s true, then “heads should roll, people should go to jail.”
Despite denials from CIA Directors John Brennan, months later, in July 2014, the CIA’s inspector general released a report finding that Sen. Feinstein’s accusations were founded.
The IG found that five agency employees, two attorneys, and three IT staff did “improperly access” databases used by Senate staffers. It also said that the three CIA agents “displayed a lack of candor about their activities when interviewed.”
The IG referred the matter to the Department of Justice for potential abuses of Wiretap Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
But on Wednesday, a different report released by an accountability board came to different conclusions. It found there is no basis” for charging any agents under the law.
Citing that “no common understating existed” about how both parties should act in case of a “suspected security incident,” and that Senate staffers had “consented” to CIA searches throughout investigations, the board claimed, “The facts and circumstances of this case do not support…’unauthorized access’ by these Agency personnel.”
As a result, it recommended no consequences for the CIA personnel who did monitor Senate staffers.
The board, which was chaired by former Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), did give several technical recommendations to apply to events similar in the future. They included encouraging better communications between Congress and the agency, more reviews of the technical guidelines, and assigning more than one person at the agency the job of oversight and operations control.
After the report’s release, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called for responsibility at the CIA.
“It is incredible that no one at the CIA has been held accountable for this very clear violation of Constitutional principles,” the Senator said in a statement. “Director Brennan either needs to reprimand the individuals involved or take responsibility himself. So far he has done neither. “
Asked on Thursday if the White House thought it was acceptable for the CIA to breach the Senate computers, Earnest dodged.
“What’s most important is that we have a group of individuals with an area of expertise who can sit down and take an impartial look at all the facts and determine exactly what happened.”
He added that CIA Director Brennan will follow-up on the recommendations of the board.
