Senator Accuses CIA of Snooping On Intelligence Committee Computers

An anonymous reader writes "Sen. Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, publicly accused the CIA of inappropriately searching computers used by her committee, violating presidential directives, federal laws and the Fourth Amendment. The computers in question were provided by the CIA at an undisclosed CIA location for use by the members of the intelligence committee. When the committee staff received internal documents the CIA had not officially provided, the agency examined the computers used by the committee and removed the unauthorized documents. The action has been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution." There were rumors of such a few weeks ago, and now it's official. Read the transcript of her speech.

Comments

It's a she, not a he

[Taco Cowboy]

That asshole's name is Dianne Feinstein, a staunchly pro-NSA, pro-BIG BROTHER senator.

Re:It's a she, not a he

[memojuez]

You forget, Congress is full of elitists who didn't follow many of the Employment Laws and regulations (Equal Opportunity Employment, Affirmative Action, OSHA, etc) until it required itself in 1994. So, it only stands to reason that one of their ilk, regardless of Party affiliation, would evoke her 4th Amendment rights while gleefully trampling on ours.

Re:It's a she, not a he

[HornWumpus]

They don't even bother hiding it anymore. She routes millions to her husband and nobody cares.

CIA computers

[tomhath]

As I read it, the CIA searched their own computers that were made available to the Senate Committee, looking for documents that were not supposed to be made available or publicly released. For whatever reason (probably a CIA screw-up) someone on the committee found those documents and blabbed about them.

Feinstein's complaint is that the CIA wasn't supposed to monitor what the committee was looking at on those computers. It sounds like she has a reasonable complaint, but given the amount of hysteria around leaks these days it doesn't surprise me that the CIA thought they had a bigger problem than just one of their own inadvertently releasing documents that should not have been.

Re:Hypocrisy

[Anonymous Coward]

The hypocritical Senator's own word, for our enjoyment. Pass the popcorn.

The NSA's Watchfulness Protects America
By Dianne Feinstein
Oct. 13, 2013 6:59 p.m. ET

Since it was exposed in June by leaker Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency's call-records program has become controversial and many have questioned whether its benefits are worth the costs. My answer: The program—which collects phone numbers and the duration and times of calls, but not the content of any conversations, names or locations—is necessary and must be preserved if we are to prevent terrorist attacks.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: Continue NSA call-records program
By Dianne Feinstein
Oct. 20, 2013 6:22 p.m. EDT

The NSA call-records program is legal and subject to extensive congressional and judicial oversight. Above all, the program has been effective in helping to prevent terrorist plots against the U.S. and our allies. Congress should adopt reforms to improve transparency and privacy protections, but I believe the program should continue.

The call-records program is not surveillance. It does not collect the content of any communication, nor do the records include names or locations. The NSA only collects the type of information found on a telephone bill: phone numbers of calls placed and received, the time of the calls and duration. The Supreme Court has held this "metadata" is not protected under the Fourth Amendment.

Re:I won't hold my breath

[lagomorpha2]

As for us, asshole Feinstein look at us as if we are peons, slaves for the elites, that we do not have any right to enjoy the protection granted by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and that we ought to be stripped of everything, and kow-tow to her and her kinds.

I sometimes wonder how monsters like Feinstein get any votes at all while the likes of Feingold can lose to a climate change denier. We have only ourselves to blame.

Personally I blame California.

Diebold...

[PortHaven]

Any other questions?

This needed to be public

[delcielo]

Regardless of the hypocrisy of Feinstein, this turn of events needed to be made public.

The CIA did something wrong. The Senate opened an investigation. The CIA accidentally sent them incriminating information, then deleted some after it had already been reviewed. The CIA agreed not to delete any more, then did it again. The Senate put some of this incriminating information into their official report and moved evidence to a secure location. The CIA didn't much care for that and started an investigation into how they got it, trumped up accusations of criminal conduct and have refused to accept the legitimate oversight role of the Senate. Hate Feinstein all you want, but don't dismiss this illegitimate action by the CIA because she's no angel herself.