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Sharyl Attkisson sues Justice Dept.

Former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has sued the U.S. Department of Justice for illegal surveillance, alleging that the Obama administration hacked her computers while she was reporting on the Benghazi attacks, Fast and Furious and Obamacare.

"There is an administrative claim for illegal wiretapping and a lawsuit alleging constitutional violations," Attkisson told POLITICO on Monday, confirming a Fox News report about the lawsuit. She is seeking $35 million in damages.

Attkisson has cited three computer forensic exams as evidence that hackers stole data and passwords from her home and work computers. She also told Fox that she has "pretty good evidence" that the hacks were "connected" to the Justice Department.

Attkisson left CBS News in March after more than two decades with the network, citing frustrations with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias, an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting. Sources at the network said Attkisson’s coverage of the Obama administration had become agenda-driven and led network executives to doubt the impartiality of her reporting.

Attkisson has refused to address inconsistencies in her allegations about the computer hacking. In a recent book, she writes that a source provided her with the name of the person responsible for the attack. Yet in a subsequent interview she said she didn't know who was responsible. When reached by email, she told POLITICO she would not address the matter because Media Matters, the liberal watchdog that flagged the inconsistency, was an unreliable, partisan organization.

In October, Attkisson released a video she took with her cellphone of one apparent computer hack, which appeared to show words being deleted from her files without her control. However, Vox's Max Fisher studied the video and concluded it was more likely that Attkisson had a stuck backspace key.

UPDATE (6:18 p.m.): The Justice Department says it stands by its 2013 statement:

To our knowledge, the Justice Department has never compromised Ms. Attkisson’s computers, or otherwise sought any information from or concerning any telephone, computer or other media device she may own or use.