United States spy agencies late Wednesday denied claims that they experienced an intelligence failure as Russian troops first began occupying the Crimean peninsula. Early Wednesday, Sen. John McCain criticized Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for what he called a “massive failure” by U.S. intelligence leading up to Russia's seizure of the Ukraine region. But CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz said since the beginning of the crisis, "the CIA has regularly updated policymakers" including possible scenarios or Russia's intervention and that "any suggestion otherwise is flat wrong." A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence also said that on February 26 the IC warned that Crimea was a "flashpoint for Russian-Ukraine military conflict."
