Story highlights
Justice Department weighing whether to get involved
CIA inspector general asked prosecutors to look at allegations
Senate committee says CIA monitored staff computers
CIA says Senate staff was looking at unauthorized material
The Justice Department is looking at whether to launch an investigation of finger-pointing between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee that erupted over access to top-secret documents, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Earlier this week, the CIA’s Inspector General’s office asked prosecutors to look at allegations from both sides that each was inappropriately monitoring the other at a secret facility in Northern Virginia.
The facility was set up to review millions of classified CIA documents on its detention and interrogation programs.
The CIA outfitted the room with secure computers and encrypted locks so committee staff members could compile a 6,000 page classified report.
The CIA contends the committee was looking at unauthorized material, while the Senate panel claims the agency inappropriately monitored computer activity of its staff, according to a source familiar with the matter.
CIA Director John Brennan said in a statement that that he was “deeply dismayed” that some members of the Senate have made “spurious allegations about CIA actions that are wholly unsupported by the facts.”
Brennan said he was confident that authorities reviewing the matter would determine whether there was any wrongdoing by either side.