Hirono: CIA Should Apologize For Spying

The Hawaii senator and two colleagues ask Obama to compel the agency director to act because of snooping of the Intelligence Committee.

 

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Vice News reports that three Democrats in the U.S. Senate wrote a letter to the president last week, demanding that the director of the CIA apologize for his agency having spied on them.

“In January 2014, CIA personnel conducted an unauthorized, unprecedented search of Senate committee files, including the emails and other files of Senate staff investigating the CIA’s use of torture,” write Sen. Ron Wyden, Martin Heinrich and Mazie Hirono, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The U.S. Capitol, in winter with a dome under remodeling, February 2015.
The U.S. Capitol, in winter with a dome under remodeling, February 2015. Chad Blair/Civil Beat

Because of the “improper access,” the senators want assurances from CIA Director John Brennan that it won’t happen again.

“We believe that it is necessary for you to ensure that senior officials in your administration recognize the importance of adhering to the rule of law,” the lawmakers wrote to Obama. “We ask that you instruct Director Brennan to acknowledge that the CIA’s unauthorized search of Senate files was improper and will not be repeated.”

Vice News said there was no comment from the president or the CIA.

The action comes in the wake of the Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s torture program in December 2014.

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