Public Interest Groups Call For Brennan’s Resignation

A coalition of public service groups released a letter Tuesday calling for the resignation of CIA Director John Brennan in the ongoing fallout of revelations that the Central Intelligence Agency snooped on Senate staffers working on a report on President George W. Bush-era interrogation practices.

The letter to President Barack Obama was signed by 20 groups, including the Sunlight Foundation, Public Citizen, and the Project on Government Oversight. The groups’ call for Brennan to step down echoes Congressional calls that came in late July from Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, both Democrats.

The letter calls for Obama to declassify the CIA’s inspector general’s report on the improper access to Senate computers and for Brennan to resign for his role in what the groups said is "a long series of CIA attempts to conceal and obstruct oversight of its use of torture after September 11." Going further, the groups wrote that under the leadership of Brannen, the CIA has become "an agency without limits," threatening the work of the majority of CIA employees playing by the rules.

The inspector general’s report confirming that the CIA accessed Senate computers was a particular embarrassment for Brannen given the veracity and speed with which he denied Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s allegations of CIA lawbreaking. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Brennan said in March hours after the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman said she had "grave concerns that the CIA search may well have violated the separation of powers principles."