Surveillance defender now on the attack

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) shocked many of her Senate colleagues with a forceful speech this week accusing the CIA of searching her staffers’ computers and potentially violating the Constitution.

The speech was remarkable not just for the stunning allegations Feinstein laid out in meticulous detail, but also for the fact that the bombshells were coming from the four-term California Democrat.

{mosads}Feinstein, who at 80 is now the Senate’s oldest member, has been one of the biggest defenders of government surveillance in recent months, as criticism of the National Security Agency’s spying has mounted in the halls of Congress and among the public.

Feinstein’s allies say she didn’t want to make the bitter fight between her committee and the CIA over the CIA’s Bush-era interrogation techniques such a public one, but in the end she felt like she had no choice.

“I think a number of people were surprised she gave it, turns out, I wasn’t one of them,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who preceded Feinstein as chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 2007-2009.

“I thought it was an absolutely fabulous speech. It had to be said,” Rockefeller told The Hill. “They always say, she’s very friendly to the CIA, or she’s soft. Or they say that about me. They have no idea, which is the speech I really want to give someday.”

Civil liberties groups have criticized Feinstein for her deference to the intelligence community, particularly her defense of the NSA’s domestic surveillance programs.

Edward Snowden, whom Feinstein has called a traitor for his disclosures, said this week that Feinstein’s actions were hypocritical. He said it was concerning when “an elected official does not care at all that the rights of millions of ordinary citizens are violated by our spies, but suddenly it’s a scandal when a politician finds out the same thing happens to them.”

Other Feinstein critics said they were encouraged by her decision to push back against the CIA.

“It was riveting, and in part, it was such an important speech because the Congress and the judiciary branches have done such a poor job of oversight and acting as a check on the executive branch,” said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“We, of course, hope that and urge Sen. Feinstein to exercise the same kind of oversight over the NSA programs as she’s been doing over the torture programs,” he added.

It’s unlikely Feinstein will change her tune on the NSA, however, just as it’s unlikely she will back off her criticism off CIA Director John Brennan.

Feinstein brushed aside the criticisms against her.

“I think my record is pretty clear, and nothing has changed,” Feinstein told The Hill on Thursday.

The senator faces political risks for making her allegations in such a public fashion.

Brennan has denied her claims, and the CIA filed a claim with the Justice Department accusing Feinstein staffers of potentially violating the law as well.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the Intelligence panel, cast some doubt on Feinstein’s accusations, saying much still was unknown.

“Although people speak as though we know all the pertinent facts surrounding this matter, the truth is we do not,” Chambliss said on the floor.

Other Republicans said they were taken by surprise when Feinstein spoke out in such a public manner.

“I was very surprised when she took to the floor, given the discussions that we had been having in private,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), an Intelligence Committee member.

 “As you know, the CIA director has denied Sen. Feinstein’s account of what happened, and I think we need to get to the bottom of this,” Collins said.

The dispute between the CIA and the Intelligence Committee dates back to the panel’s 6,300-page classified report with scathing findings of Bush-era interrogation techniques like waterboarding.

Democratic senators are pushing for the report, finished in December 2012, to be declassified, but they say the CIA is stonewalling those efforts, including the agency’s alleged snooping on the committee staffers.

In her speech this week, Feinstein laid out how the CIA searched the Senate intelligence computers to determine whether the committee possessed the CIA’s internal review of the interrogation programs.

“I have grave concerns that the CIA’s search may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution,” Feinstein said on the Senate floor.

“The CIA’s search may also have violated the Fourth Amendment, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as Executive Order 12333, which prohibits the CIA from conducting domestic searches or surveillance,” she said.

Feinstein has been known to speak out on the issues she cares about, from being one of the first to call Snowden a traitor to her impassioned but ultimately unsuccessful push for restoring the assault weapons ban last year.

She is also well-respected among her colleagues and does not have a reputation for making bombastic statements — which has some Republicans taking her allegations quite seriously.

“I just don’t think she’d be making this stuff up. I know she’s not making it up,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who requested a briefing on the allegations after Feinstein’s speech.

Graham has said he’s still skeptical but said that, if Feinstein’s accusations are true, “heads should roll at the CIA.”

Democrats say Feinstein’s anger toward the CIA has slowly boiled up because she’s been fighting the agency over her panel’s interrogation report for five years.

“She’s always very cautious about going public. She kept her peace for a long, long time after stories appeared about it,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), an “ex officio” member of the committee. “She feels very deeply about what the CIA did here, and I think with very good reason.”