The Daily Show has exasperated fun with the Senate-CIA war

(Image credit: Daily Show)

last updated 8 January 2015

On Wednesday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart waded into the brewing showdown between Congress and the CIA over allegations that U.S. spies hacked into the Senate intelligence committee's computers to thwart an investigation into CIA torture. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the committee, is furious — and that's bad news for the agency, since she's one of its staunchest defenders, Stewart noted.

Stewart also mocked Feinstein for finally caring about government surveillance, now that the CIA is allegedly hacking into her Senate computers rather than "looking at your stuff" — because covertly removing damning documents relevant to an investigation into illicit torture is the same as the NSA scooping up your telephone metadata? But Stewart had fun with CIA Director John Brennan's hurt feelings over Feinstein's allegations, too — hacking the Senate's computers is more "beyond the scope of reason" than overthrowing governments and assassinating leaders? he asked incredulously.

If that's a little heavy for your tastes, the follow-up segment with new correspondent Jordan Klepper is all laughs. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.