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Bob Graham: I Don't Recall Being Briefed On Waterboarding
Bob Graham, the Democratic former Florida senator, has said he has no memory of being told in a briefing about waterboarding or other harsh interrogation techniques, as a recently released CIA document indicates.
Graham told Greg Sargent this afternoon: "I do not have any recollection of being briefed on waterboarding or other forms of extraordinary interrogation techniques, or Abu Zubaydah being subjected to them."
Greg adds:
Graham denied being told about EITs, and argued that the presence of two staff members at the meeting (as indicated in the records) would have made it "highly unusual" for the briefers to divulge such sensitive info. "I don't recall having had one of those kinds of briefings with staff present," he said. "That would defeat the purpose of keeping a tight hold" on the info.
Graham's claim would appear to cast further doubt on the accuracy of a CIA document released last week. The document indicates that Graham, at the time the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, attended a CIA briefing in September 2002, at which the use of harsh interrogation techniques on Zubaydah was discussed.
The document also indicates that a briefing a few weeks earlier for Nancy Pelosi, who was then the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, covered the same subjects. And that a top Pelosi aide was told in 2003 that torture had been used.
Republican have used the documents to attack Pelosi, who has said that she wasn't briefed on the fact that the techniques had already been used.
CIA director Leon Panetta noted in a letter accompanying the document that it may not be entirely accurate.
We have our own call in to Graham and will let you know what we hear from him.
Josh
Zachary
When I hear or read a Congress critter or Government official state "I do not have any recollection ..." I run and put on my aluminim hat to cut down on cosmic discordance. To look at his non answer another way; how many times did torture, or EIT as we love to euphemistically call it now, come up in the hallowed halls of Congress, water closets or in secret meetings, that frigging alarm bells wouldn't go off in his head and get stored in long term memory. It must as others noted be the DC water. Give us a break Bobby and come clean!
May 11, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't cast aspersions so widely - Reagan, at least, may have had an excuse.
May 11, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't be so harsh on Graham. He is one of the few who read the intel reports on WMD and voted against the Iraq War. Moreover, there is another way to look at his lack of memory suggested by Bushie's comment. If he had been briefed on torture, it probably would be something he would remember. So, to accpet Bushie's logic, one would have to assume Granham was briefed, in fact remembers, but for some reason now wants to act dumb. What is his motivation for doing so?
May 11, 2009 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have followed Bob Graham's political career since his days in the Florida Legislature. I have found him to be one the most honest and honorable politicians ever. I have also found him to be a bit of a milquetoast when it comes to speaking ill of others. What I hear him saying is this: I can't speak for Pelosi, or the CIA, or anything other than what I saw and heard. He will never call anyone a liar until it reaches a level of metaphysical certainty.
May 11, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Along with the list of briefings, the CIA included a note saying that its records about who attended the briefings, and whem, may not in fact be acurate.
It's quite possibly that Graham never did get briefed. The CIA has said as much... "Here's our list, but don't trust our records."
The actual quote from the accompanying letter:
May 11, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe Congressional oversight and general competence has been on the decline since 104th Congress. Under Bushco, Congress just signed the check and let Cheney run wild. Now some, not much, but some accountably is in the wind and members, past and present, are having memory lapses or relying on he said/he said for CYA from the CIA. That's why I question Graham's semantics. Besides, I think Gonzo may sue him for plagiarism in using his favorite term!
May 11, 2009 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Zach, if you want to move the story forward, you need to talk with Richard Shelby, who appears on the CIA schedule as having been present at the one time Graham was briefed.
This isn't "news" per se, although with all the to-and-fro it's helpful to have Graham on the record again. It's Graham confirming, although in more detail, what he's said all along.
Both he and Pelosi have been consistent with their comments re what they were briefed in 2002. He's said he wasn't told about extreme techniques. She's said she was told about some interrogation techniques but not waterboarding, and not that waterboarding had been or was going to be used.
So it's the same he-said-she-said, and the disagreements and apparent discrepancies haven't been cleared up by the CIA briefing schedule. The schedule does, however, clarify that we're talking about only one briefing for Graham and Pelosi, each in September 2002.
May 11, 2009 9:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
"This information, however, is drawn from the past files of the CIA and represents MFRs completed at the time and notes that summarized the best recollections of those individuals."
Why is it that CIA bureaucrats have a higher security clearance than sitting members of Congress?
CIA files
completed MFR's
Notes
It has been previously reported that those members of Congress that were briefed were told that they couldn't take notes or discuss the subjects of those meetings with anyone.
It would be interesting to know when those "notes that summarized the best recollections of those individuals" were written.
From what was said, those notes could have been written withing the last month and those "best recollections" could be intentionaly false and deliberately misleading.
.
May 12, 2009 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I tend to believe former Sen. Graham's story based on the fact that Republicans are waving the document around,staging one of their drama queen moments. Also:
If the director of the CIA can't vouch for information contained in the report, then I think that it's just another case of Republicans trying to make something out of nothing as usual.
May 12, 2009 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink