Lawmaker Accuses CIA of Coverup

"The only accountability process worthy of this agency is one conducted with care, candor, and common sense. That's the single goal here. It's still unfolding, and it's not something that should ever be subjected to political pressure of any kind," he said.

Hoekstra said at the press conference that the CIA withheld information from lawmakers and other government officials.

"After the shoot down the CIA denied Congress, the National Security Council and the [Justice] Department access to key findings of internal reviews that established and documented the sustained significant violations of the established procedures," Hoekstra said. "The Inspector General found that CIA officials made false or misleading statements to Congress. The IG found the CIA never informed the Department of Justice of significant material information in connection with consideration of potential criminal charges."

According to an official briefed on the matter, in 2005 the Justice Department declined to prosecute the case after reviewing it with the CIA Inspector General.

Spokesman Gimigliano said that CIA Director Michael Hayden reviewed the report in late August, but that he has reached "no decisions at this point regarding conclusions and recommendations sent forward by the IG."

"This process is still open," he continued. "In fact, the director has sought input from a cleared outside expert, one who would know the complex issues involved in an air interdiction program."

Gimigliano also noted that the agency has shared the report with the Justice Department.

An unclassified portion of the report said that within hours of the incident, "CIA officers began to characterize the shootdown as a one-time mistake in an otherwise well-run program. In fact, this was not the case."

Another unclassified section of the report says the "routine disregard of the required intercept procedures" in the program "led to the rapid shooting down of target aircraft without adequate safeguards to protect against the loss of innocent life."