CIA Director John Brennan: ‘In No Way’ Were We Spying on the Senate
John Brennan, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sat down with NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday where he was asked to respond to Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s (D-CA) allegation that the CIA may have violated the Constitution by investigating Senate Intelligence Committee staffers’ computer network. He insisted that the CIA was not “spying” on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in spite of Feinstein’s accusations.
Mitchell asked Brennan whether his agency’s operatives had engaged in an “illegal and unconstitutional search” of Senate Intelligence Committee staff communications activities.
“There’s never been an effort by the CIA to thwart the SSCI’s [U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence] investigation,” Brennan said. “I know that there are a lot of claims out there, that the CIA has sought to prevent the SSCI from doing its work, but that’s not the case at all.”
RELATED: Sen. Feinstein Rips CIA: Spying on Congressional Staffers May Have Violated Constitution
“Let me assure you that CIA, in no way, was spying on the SSCI or the Senate,” he continued, “We greatly respect the separation of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch.”
Mitchell noted that Feinstein’s accusation was a “startling” departure from her prior practices. Brennan said that he was not informed about the committee chair’s findings prior to her remarks and he had not yet heard them.
Watch the clip below via MSNBC:
[Photo via screen grab ]
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