Spying On Senate

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and CIA Director John Brennan sparred Tuesday over the lawmaker's allegation that agency officials secretly had searched Senate computers, an act she said had undermined congressional intelligence oversight and may have violated the law. "I have grave concerns that the CIA search may well have violated the separation-of-powers principles,"  Feinstein said on...

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's accusation that the CIA has illegally spied on Congress has caused everyone from South Carolina's hawkish Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to on-the-run whistle-blower Edward Snowden to weigh in. Feinstein, a Democrat, chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. She claims there is evidence that the CIA conducted surveillance on committee staffers who were looking through classified documents related to the spy agency's interrogation and detention practices during the administration of President George W. Bush.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, escalated a behind-the-scenes dispute with the CIA by publicly accusing the spy agency of secretly searching a Senate computer system, an act she said undermines congressional intelligence oversight and may have violated the law. The expanding dispute has opened a rift between the CIA and the Senate committee that oversees it and often has defended it. Already, some...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and CIA Director John Brennan sparred Tuesday over the lawmaker's allegation that agency officials secretly had searched Senate computers, an act she said had undermined congressional intelligence oversight and may have violated the law. "I have grave concerns that the CIA search may well have violated the separation-of-powers principles,"  Feinstein said on...

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's accusation that the CIA has illegally spied on Congress has caused everyone from South Carolina's hawkish Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to on-the-run whistle-blower Edward Snowden to weigh in. Feinstein, a Democrat, chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. She claims there is evidence that the CIA conducted surveillance on committee staffers who were looking through classified documents related to the spy agency's interrogation and detention practices during the administration of President George W. Bush.

Senators peppered top Justice Department and intelligence officials Tuesday with skeptical questions about their proposal to revise the rules for spying on Americans. Senate Intelligence Committee members said the Bush administration must provide more information about its earlier domestic spying before it can hope to gain additional powers for the future. "Is the administration's proposal necessary, or does it take a step further down a path that we will regret as a nation?" asked Sen. John D.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, escalated a behind-the-scenes dispute with the CIA by publicly accusing the spy agency of secretly searching a Senate computer system, an act she said undermines congressional intelligence oversight and may have violated the law. The expanding dispute has opened a rift between the CIA and the Senate committee that oversees it and often has defended it. Already, some...