A senior US senator has accused the CIA of criminal activity in improperly searching a computer network set up for lawmakers investigating allegations of torture.
Democrat Dianne Feinstein, in an extraordinary speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, publicly aired an intense but formerly quiet dispute between Congress and the spy agency.
The criticism by Feinstein is particularly biting because she has been one of the main defenders of intelligence agencies at a time when they have been sharply criticised at home and abroad following revelations about mass surveillance programmes.
CIA Director John Brennan, asked about Feinstein's accusations, said the agency was not trying to stop the committee's report and that it had not hacked into Senate computers, the Associated Press reported.
He said the appropriate authorities would look at the matter further and "I defer to them to determine whether or not there was any violation of law or principle".
