John Brennan, the Director of the CIA, apologized to Senate Intelligence Committee leaders following an internal inquiry discovered that employees of the CIA performed unauthorized searches of computers in the Senate, according to USA Today.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the CIA, said the following in a statement:
“The director is committed to correcting any shortcomings related to this matter.”
Boyd also said that Brennan will also commission an accountability board to review the inspector general’s findings.
Earlier in July, Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said, “The department carefully reviewed the matters referred to us and did not find sufficient evidence to warrant a criminal investigation.”
Dianne Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair, said, “Director Brennan apologized for these actions and submitted the IG report to an accountability board. These are positive first steps. The IG report corrects the record.”
Mark Udall, a senator from Ohio, said, “I have lost faith in John Brennan. Brennan needs to account for these statements.”
The senior legislative counsel for the ACLU, Christopher Anders, said, “It is hard to imagine a greater threat to the Constitution’s system of checks and balances than have the CIA spy on the computers used by the very Senate staff carrying out the Senate’s constitutional duty of oversight over the executive branch.”