The battle between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee over the Committee's scathing 6,000-page report on the CIA's defunct detention and interrogation program escalated this week after complaints that the CIA was "inappropriately monitoring" Committee staff while it completed its report. The complaints from Congress compelled the CIA's inspector general (IG) to begin an inquiry, and the CIA's IG has reportedly already referred the matter to the Department of Justice for action. The 6,000-page Committee report has yet to be declassified, despite pressure from the White House that it be disclosed, "in part because of a continuing dispute with the C.I.A. over some of its conclusions." The report has taken more than four years to complete, and has cost more than $40 million –partially because the CIA insisted that Committee staff only be allowed to review classified materials pertinent to the investigation at the agency's secure facility in Northern Virginia, "[a]nd only after a group of outside contractors had reviewed the documents first." According to government officials, CIA officers gained access to the computer networks used by the Committee after the CIA became concerned that the Committee itself had inappropriately gained access to parts of the CIA's computer network it was not authorized to view.

The House Intelligence Committee is seeking explanations for conflicting intelligence reports from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the CIA, and the Office of National Intelligence on the Ukraine crisis. Lawmakers reported that a classified DIA report issued earlier this week concluded that Russia's troop movements near the Ukrainian border would not lead to military intervention, while a classified CIA report found that while there was a possibility that Russia would intervene in Ukraine, an invasion was unlikely. A closed-door briefing to members of Congress last Thursday by Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, further reported that military action in Ukraine was not imminent. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman, Dianne Feinstein, told POLITICO that, "[w]e have to better deploy our resources... because we have large resources and it should not be possible for Russia to walk in and take over the Crimea and it's a done deal by the time we know about it."

READ MORE: Battle Rages Between CIA and Senate Intel Committee over Torture Report, Conflicting Intelligence Analysis of the Ukraine Crisis

A new lawsuit has revealed the extent of former President Clinton's friendship with a fundraiser who was later jailed for having sex with an underage prostitute.

Bill Clinton's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who served time in 2008 for his illegal sexual partners, included up multiple trips to the onetime billionaire's private island in the Caribbean where underage girls were allegedly kept as sex slaves.
The National Enquirer has released new details about the two men's friendship, which seems to have ended abruptly around the time of Epstein's arrest.
Tales of orgies and young girls being shipped to the island, called Little St. James, have been revealed as part of an ongoing lawsuit between Epstein and his former lawyers Scott Rothstein and Bradley Edwards.
It is unclear what the basis of the suit is, but they go on to call witness testimony from some of the frequent guests at Epstein's island to talk about the wild parties that were held there in the early 2000s.
Flight logs pinpoint Clinton's trips on Epstein's jet between the years 2002 and 2005, while he was working on his philanthropic post-presidential career and while his wife Hillary was a Senator for their adopted state of New York.
'I remember asking Jeffrey what's Bill Clinton doing here kind fo thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me a favor,' one unidentified woman said in the lawsuit, which was filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court.
The woman went on to say how orgies were a regular occurrence and she recalled two young girls from New York who were always seen around the five-house compound but their personal backstories were never revealed.
At least one woman on the compound was there unwillingly, as the suit identifies a woman as Jane Doe 102.
She 'was forced to live as one of Epstein's underage sex slaves for years and was forced to have sex with... politicians, businessmen, royalty, academicians, etc,' the lawsuit says according to The Enquirer.
Epstein's sexual exploits have been documented since 2005, when a woman in Palm Beach contacted police saying that her 14-year-old daughter had been paid $300 to massage him and then have sex.
The claim prompted a nearly year-long investigation that led to the eventual charge of soliciting prostitution which came as part of a plea deal. He spent 13 months of a 18-month sentence in jail and remains a registered sex offender.

READ MORE: Bill Clinton identified in lawsuit against his former friend and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein who had 'regular' orgies at his Caribbean compound that the former president visited multiple times

The banker suicide saga has just reached a new level as a top level JPMorgan attorney has been exterminated in a hit & run incident involving a minivan.

JPM attorney Joseph Giampapa was killed over the weekend when he was struck by a minivan in a hit and run incident. Giampapa was reportedly hit and thrown 150 ft and was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges have been filed.

It gets better: Giampapa was JPMorgan's top commercial bankruptcy lawyer (SVP).
Somehow we suspect the incident was not inflicted by a soccer mom.

VIDEO

READ MORE: JPM’S TOP COMMERCIAL BANKRUPTCY LAWYER DEAD IN A MINIVAN HIT & RUN

PC James Patrick, whose evidence forced Met to admit crime figures were unreliable, cited lack of trust as reason to quit.

The whistleblower who revealed inaccuracies in the Metropolitan police service (MPS)'s crime figures, prompting an investigation and the withdrawal of their gold standard status for statistics, said on Monday night he had resigned as a result of his treatment by senior officers.

PC James Patrick gave evidence to a parliamentary committee that led to admissions by the police inspector, Tom Winsor, and the Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, that crime figures produced by the force were likely to be unreliable.

He was also subject to misconduct proceedings and faced the sack over a book he wrote, proceeds from which he said were donated to charity, pointing out problems at the Met.

"This resignation arises directly from my treatment as a result of making disclosures in good faith and in the public interest," said Patrick, announcing his resignation.

He added: "My experience led me to see just how flawed the whistleblowing system is, how it fails, but also to firmly believe that no police officer should normally resign or retire while subject to any misconduct investigation. But the circumstances are such that I have no choice."

The accusations against Patrick were downgraded from gross misconduct to misconduct, which meant he would not face the sack. But he said he intended to resign from the force after the proceedings in any case due to a lack of trust and the sustained attacks against his character he said had taken place.

The move calls into question the UK's largest police force's treatment of those who question senior management.

In a statement, released on Monday, he said that the Met's investigation and misconduct proceedings against him had taken a toll on his family; adding: "yet even so I carried on acting in the public interest, resulting in my being effectively bullied at New Scotland Yard and, in the end, with my sparking a parliamentary inquiry into crime statistics which has had a significant national impact.

"In the wake I had to watch senior officers deny it was happening, but I couldn't reply as I'd been warned that it could result in further discipline."

He added: "It is impossible for me to see how I could ever trust the MPS again, that is something which is permanently destroyed."

A spokesman for the Met said it would be inappropriate to comment.

READ MORE: Metropolitan police whistleblower 'forced to resign'

A woman with a history of depression took her own life because her benefits were cut following an Atos capability assessment, a mental health watchdog has said.

The woman, in her fifties, had been experiencing both mental and physical health issues and was on strong medication, yet received zero points in an hour-long Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

The case of the woman, identified only as Ms DE, was brought to the attention of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWC), and after an extensive investigation the watchdog said it had raised "numerous concerning issues" about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Atos process.

It said Ms DE did not receive a self-assessment questionnaire, no evidence was sought from her psychiatrist or GP and "she was not treated as a vulnerable claimant".

After an hour with Ms DE, the doctor conducting the assessment for Atos, on behalf of the DWP, concluded that she showed "no evidence that she has a significant disability of mental health function".

She was notified on 9 December 2011 that she had scored zero points on the assessment, and that her incapacity benefit of £94.25 a week would be cut to a Jobseeker's Allowance of £67.50.

She took an overdose on New Year's Eve that year.

"This lady had a lot to look forward to," the chief executive of the MWC, Dr Donald Lyons, told the BBC.

"She was getting married. She was being treated. She was undertaking voluntary work. She had a good social network.

"There wasn't anything else which we could identify that would lead us to believe that there was any other factor in her life that resulted in her decision to end her life."

George Kappler, the MWC's chief social work officer and chair of the investigation, said: "Ms DE should have been supported as a vulnerable claimant. We found a lack of sensitivity to individual circumstances.

"We thought the assessment process was flawed and needs to change in order to be fair to individuals with mental health problems.

"We feel that these issues would apply to whichever service provider is doing the assessments, so the DWP need to be aware of this when the contract with Atos ends."

The DWP responded to the watchdog's concerns, saying that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was developed "in consultation with medical and other experts, including representative groups".

The department said a series of reports had found "that overall the WCA works as intended and is a valid assessment relative to independent experts' opinion about individuals' fitness for work that can support decisions about who should be paid ESA (Employment and Support Allowance)".

READ MORE: Woman with ‘a lot to live for’ took her own life after ‘flawed’ Atos work capability assessment slashed her benefits by a third, watchdog says

A police officer who shot a blind man with a Taser when he mistook his white stick for a samurai sword will keep his job - and has only been asked to apologise to the man.

Colin Farmer, 64, was hit with the stun gun in Chorley, Lancashire, by PC Stuart Wright in 2012 as he walked to his local pub.
Mr Farmer, who thought he was suffering a stroke, was then handcuffed by the police constable - who was responding to reports of a man in the town centre with a sword.
Mr Farmer was not released until the arrival of another officer whom PC Wright told: 'I think I've got the wrong person.'
Lancashire Constabulary held a two-day disciplinary hearing following a recommendation from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct.
The meeting concluded PC Wright was not guilty of 'gross incompetence' - but should be issued with a performance improvement notice and that he be told to apologise personally to Mr Farmer.
Mr Farmer condemned the decision today.
He said: 'This officer broke a rule, he should never have shot a blind man in the back from 6ft away. There was no urgency for him to pull the trigger -I could very easily have been dead.'
'The odds have not been in my favour. Since it happened I have been diagnosed with traumatic stress disorder because if what has been going on.
'Before it happened I had only been out of hospital five months after having a brain haemorrhage and stroke, my brain hadn't even had chance to recover and then this. Let's just say I'm happy that at least he won't be getting a promotion.
'He can live with his conscience, but I did nothing wrong, I'm the innocent victim. If he can shoot a blind man and get away with it what signal is that giving out to people.
'It wasn't a mistake, he pulled that trigger on purpose, he could have waited. I have lost faith in the police, I have had no justice. If it can get to this then god help anybody.
'These trigger happy police officers are killing people, if I had a pacemaker I would be dead by now. I don't want an apology because it's an insult to me. It seems like he has treated like a naughty schoolboy when I believe it was total negligence on his part.'
An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was launched after the incident in October 2012.
It discovered the man was walking away from PC Wright at the time and posed no threat.

READ MORE: 'A policeman can shoot a blind man in the back and get away with it?'