Panel to advise against punishment for CIA computer search

A CIA panel has decided not to consider punishment for the agency’s officers who spied on the US Senate’s computer inquiries into the use of torture, according to current and former officials.

The panel is investigating the CIA’s search of a computer network, which staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee used to look into the agency’s use of torture.

The panel was formed after the agency’s inspector general singled out five CIA officials, who improperly ordered and conducted the computer searches.

The officials claimed that their actions were lawful saying they acted, in some cases, at the request of CIA Director John O. Brennan.

Their actions have angered the Senate Intelligence Committee which was subjected to spying while preparing a report on the agency’s use of torture.

The committee accused the CIA of interfering in the investigation of its wrongdoing and ignoring the committee’s independence in that regard.

The Senate report on torture was published earlier this month, drawing worldwide condemnation.

The report detailed torture techniques used by the CIA during the tenure of George W. Bush.

The agency misled Congress and the White House about the harsh methods such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation, mock executions and threats that the relatives of the prisoners would be sexually abused.