Dianne Feinstein vs. the CIA

There was on cease fire in the war of words between the CIA and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein as the California Democrat or her staff live-Tweeted rebuttals to a speech by CIA Director John Brennan.

Brennan made a rare public appearance to speak and take questions from the press conference in the wake of a damning Senate Intelligence Committee report released earlier this week that concluded the CIA's methods were not only more brutal than believed, but also ineffective at gathering actionable information. The investigators also found that the CIA consistently misled Congress and the public about the program to keep it going.

The CIA director argued that there was valuable information gained after using enhanced interrogation methods, although he said it was "unknowable" whether that information could have been obtained using other methods. He also said it was just a few agents who went beyond the legal and policy guidelines during interrogations, and expressed surprise that the committee did not interview current CIA personnel while conducting its investigation.

On Twitter, Feinstein was ready with her own rebuttal to Brennan's rebuttal, with a series of 26 tweets bearing the hashtag #ReadTheReport. A few examples:

Debate over the contentious report - which produced lengthy responses from both Republicans and the CIA - is unlikely to end anytime soon, even though the debate is over interrogations that occurred roughly a decade ago. But Feinstein (and likely her staff) seem committed to ensuring the report stays fresh in the minds of the public despite the disagreement from her critics.