Ron Paul Liberty Report
  • Home
  • Archives
  • About

CIA's Brennan to Senate: I'm Not Sorry I Spied on You

2/10/2016

 
Picture
By Daniel McAdams

CIA director John Brennan lost his cool at Sen. Ron Wyden, (D-OR) in a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee today when the Oregon Senator suggested the spy chief should apologize for spying on the Senate. 

The event in question took place back in 2014. The Senate was investigating CIA torture activities and Brennan's operatives, as his own CIA Inspector General concluded, gained "improper access" to Senate computers with the intent of snooping on the investigation.


Today Wyden pointed out to Brennan that the use of a secret Executive Branch agency to undermine the Constitutional oversight obligations of the Legislative Branch was deeply damaging to the rule of law in the United States:
When you're talking about spying on a committee responsible for overseeing your agency, in my view, that undermines the very checks-and-balances that protect our democracy and it's unacceptable in a free society.
Brennan was nonplussed, clearly not interested in having the issue revisited. “This is the annual threat assessment, is it not?” he snapped at Wyden.

When it was first suspected that Brennan's CIA had penetrated the Senate investigation's computers he lied, denying everything. When the CIA snoop was confirmed, he held firm that the Agency had done nothing wrong. It was only the Inspector General's report that federal laws may have been broken that prompted Brennan to draft, then rip up, an apology letter to the Senate. He is reported to have apologized verbally in person to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Diane Feinstein (D-CA).


Sen. Wyden didn't get very far with Brennan today, as after a couple of rounds of verbal sparring his time had expired and the issue was dropped. This is how the government investigates itself and were it not for just one or two Wydens in all of government we likely would not even know about it. Expecting something to be done about it is another issue entirely. Spy on, Brennan, no one's going to bother you!

This article was originally published at The Ron Paul Institute.

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015



  • Home
  • Archives
  • About