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