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 McClatchy Newspapers and the New York Times, quoting individuals
with knowledge of the investigation, said the CIA's inspector
general launched the probe after members of Congress complained that
agency officers had improperly accessed the work of Intelligence
Committee staffers.
According to individuals cited in the reports, CIA employees went so
far as to gain access to computer networks the committee was using
in its work for a report on the interrogation program, which many
have equated with torture, conducted during President George W.
Bush's administration.
Two sources contacted by Reuters confirmed the probe by the CIA
inspector general.
McClatchy reported late on Wednesday that congressional aides took
with them from the CIA an internal agency review of the Bush-era
policies that at least one lawmaker has publicly said showed that
CIA leaders misled the Intelligence Committee in disputing some of
the committee's findings.
When the CIA confronted the committee on the issue, staff members
concluded the spy agency had been monitoring computers they had been
using in a high-security research room at the CIA campus, the report
said.
The Senate committee's draft report, nearly 6,000 pages long,
concludes there is little evidence the "enhanced interrogation
techniques" produced counter-terrorism breakthroughs.
The panel's Republican minority disputes those findings. The report
itself remains highly classified and it is unclear whether portions
of it will ever be made public.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said in a
statement that "if, as alleged in the media, CIA accessed without
permission or authority a computer network dedicated for use by a
Senate committee, it would be an extremely serious matter."
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The Michigan Democrat said such activity, if true, "would impede
Congress' ability to carry out its constitutional oversight
responsibilities and could violate federal law."
CIA Director John Brennan said he was "deeply dismayed that some
members of the Senate have decided to make spurious allegations
about CIA actions that are wholly unsupported by the facts.
"I am very confident that the appropriate authorities reviewing this
matter will determine where wrongdoing, if any, occurred in either
the Executive Branch or Legislative Branch," Brennan said in a
statement.
"Until then, I would encourage others to refrain from outbursts that
do a disservice to the important relationship that needs to be
maintained between intelligence officials and Congressional
overseers."
A CIA spokesman declined to elaborate beyond Brennan's statement.
(Reporting by Peter Cooney and Mark Hosenball;
editing by Ken Wills)
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