Washington (CNN) - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called recent allegations of CIA spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee "pretty appalling" and said the agency’s response to the controversy has been "befuddling" so far.
"I have very serious concerns about transparency and oversight and the intelligence community honoring its responsibility to Congress in that regard," Pelosi told reporters.
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She called on the CIA to share information with Congress.
The blow up between Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and the CIA stems from that panel’s probe of the spy agency’s controversial Bush-era detention and interrogation program of terror suspects in the years following 9/11.
Feinstein on Tuesday angrily accused the CIA of searching computers used by committee staff last year as part of a comprehensive report the panel was preparing. She also disputed accusations her staff had improperly obtained an internal CIA review related to the investigation.
Pelosi served on the House Intelligence Committee for years and has a security clearance for regular briefings because of her top leadership post.
CIA Director John Brennan has denied the agency hacked into Senate computers, and urged all sides to let the investigative process play out.
While Pelosi acknowledged she hasn't seen all of Brennan’s statements on the matter, she took a swipe at him, saying, "what I have seen are befuddling to me."
As speaker in 2009, Pelosi had her own tussle with the CIA over whether it was forthcoming with information it shared with congressional committees about the use of waterboarding techniques on terror suspects.
Pelosi credited Feinstein for her "courage" for taking on the intelligence community.
"But you don't fight it without a price, because, they come after you. And they don't always tell the truth about it," Pelosi said.