Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Friday that CIA Director John Brennan should “be relieved of his post” in the wake of confirmed allegations that the agency spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“It is illegal for the CIA to spy on Americans and an affront to our republic to spy on the Senate,” Paul said in a statement provided to The Hill newspaper. “Brennan told the American people that the CIA did not spy on the Senate but now he admits that they did.”
Brennan said in March that charges Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) leveled against the agency were “beyond the scope of reason.” He essentially admitted that they weren’t, after all, in a private apology to Feinstein and committee ranking member Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), after Feinstein’s accusations were shown to be true in a CIA inspector’s general report.
Paul is the first Republican senator to call for Brennan’s ouster.
President Obama said Friday that he had “full confidence” in Brennan despite the spying incident.
The Kentucky Republican has been a historic opponent of Brennan before. Paul filibustered Brennan’s nomination to be CIA chief in a 13-hour talkathon last year over the Obama administration’s lack of clarity on its drone policy.
