White House lawyers told before CIA filed criminal complaint about Senate aides
WASHINGTON – The White House says the Central Intelligence Agency’s top lawyer gave it a “heads up” before the CIA filed a criminal complaint with the Justice Department against Senate Intelligence Committee staffers earlier this year. The Senate panel has been investigating the CIA’s now-shuttered prison system and harsh interrogation of prisoners.
White House spokesman Jay Carney acknowledged Wednesday that Obama administration lawyers were told about the CIA’s intentions but did not approve or weigh in on the agency’s decision.
Carney says, quote, “There was no comment, there was no weighing in, there was no judgment.”
Carney wouldn’t say when the White House learned of the CIA’s legal plans.
The criminal complaint led to committee chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s dramatic public complaints levelled against the CIA in Congress Tuesday.
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