CIA director reverses himself on Senate spying

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, CIA Director John Brennan had stood firm in his insistence that the CIA had little to be ashamed of after searching the computers of the Senate Intelligence Committee. His defiant posture quickly collapsed after a devastating report by his own inspector general sided against the CIA on each key point of the dispute with the Senate.

According to an unclassified summary of the report released Thursday, five agency employees improperly accessed Intelligence Committee computers earlier this year during a disagreement over interrogation documents.

Then, despite Brennan ordering a halt to that operation, the CIA's office of security began an unauthorized investigation that led it to review the emails of Senate staffers.

Those conclusions and others prompted Brennan to abandon his defensive posture and apologize to Intelligence Committee leaders.