CIA Director John O. Brennan denied that the agency snooped on the Senate Intelligence Committee, even as one leading Republican compared the allegation to something straight out of the Nixon administration.  

“First of all, there’s never been an effort by the CIA to thwart the SSCI’s investigation. They have their Congressional oversight responsibilities,” Brennan told NBC News . “We’ve worked with them over the past year on their report, and we look forward to working with them in the future.”  

SSCI is a common acronym for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Brennan’s comments came in response to a scathing floor speech by that panel’s chairwoman, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, in which she accused the CIA of improperly searching computer systems and drives used by committee staff in developing a report on interrogation methods used during the George W. Bush administration.