Torture

ACLU Lawyer: Torture Probe Too Narrowly Focused

Zachary Roth | August 31, 2009, 4:45PM

Earlier today, Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU went on MSNBC, and made a crucial point about the decision to probe torture.

The problem, argued Jaffer, is not that we're investigating clear evidence of law-breaking -- as Dick Cheney and countless conservatives would have it. Rather, it's that the scope of the investigation, as we've noted, appears to be unduly narrow. As things stand, it focuses on CIA personnel, but ignores the Bush administration officials -- both Justice Department lawyers like John Yoo, and high-ranking policy-makers like Cheney himself -- who authorized and approved torture in the first place.

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CIA

Who Can Say What Goes On In Cheney's Head?

David Kurtz | August 25, 2009, 3:56PM

TPMmuckraker's Zachary Roth, discussing Dick Cheney, torture and those CIA documents this afternoon on MSNBC:

CIA

Interrogator Revved Power Drill In Front of Hooded Detainee -- Report Details More Abuses

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 4:53PM

CIA interrogators racked an unloaded handgun close to the head of a high-value detainee, and revved a power drill while the detainee stood naked and hooded, according to the just-released CIA IG report. They also threatened to bring in the mother and family of the detainee, al Nashiri, as well as using a stiff brush to induce pain, and standing on Nashiri's shackles, causing cuts and bruises.

And interrogators threatened another detainee, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, that they would kill his children if another attack occurred in the US.

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CIA

Torture Report Recommendations Redacted

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 4:28PM

A good catch by McClatchy on the CIA torture report...

The 2004 report, by CIA Inspector General John Helgerson, contains ten recommendations for action on the part of the agency. But all ten are redacted. So we still don't know what the CIA's internal watchdog urged be done about torture -- including whether it recommended prosecutions.

Of course, the report had been released previously, but in an even more redacted form.

Late Update: Helgerson has issued a statement expressing disappointment that his recommendations were redacted.

CIA

CIA Torture Report Released

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 3:31PM

The long awaited 2004 CIA IG report on torture -- which according to Eric Holder helped prompt him to appoint a special prosecutor -- has now been released.

The Justice Department didn't put out an online version, but the Washington Independent has posted the first half, plans to follow up with the second.

Preliminary reports suggest that the report says interrogators threatened to kill Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's children if other attacks occurred in the U.S.

Late Update: The Indy now has the whole thing up.

Torture

Rights Group Blasts Decision To Limit Torture Probe To "Low-Level Operatives"

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 3:12PM

The news that Eric Holder will appoint a prosecutor to probe Bush-era abuses hasn't satisfied some torture foes.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has issued a statement blasting the AG for apparently limiting the scope of the probe to CIA personnel who exceeded DOJ guidelines -- rather than including the DOJ lawyers who issued those guidelines, which themselves went far beyond what the law appears to allow.

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Eric Holder

WaPo: Holder To Name Torture Prosecutor

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 2:56PM

The Washington Post is reporting that Eric Holder has decided to name a special prosecutor to probe -- though only up to a point -- instances of torture under the Bush administration.

According to the paper's sources, Holder will name John Durham, a career prosecutor with a reputation for independence and impartiality, who led the investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. Read more about Durham here.

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Leon Panetta

Blackwater Tie Expains Lawmakers' Outrage Over CIA Asassinations Plan

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 1:54PM

A belated point coming out of last week's news...

Last month, when Leon Panetta provoked congressional outrage by revealing the existence of a secret CIA program to kill top al Qaeda leaders, we had the feeling that there was more to the story than we'd so far learned. After all, in the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration had openly and uncontroversially targeting Bin Laden and his top deputies.

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CIA

Panetta Spins Forthcoming Torture Report: We Were Told It Was Legal

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 11:23AM

With the Obama administration set later today to release an internal CIA report on torture, director Leon Panetta is preemptively defending his agency, claiming that CIA personnel simply followed the legal guidelines they were given.

In a message to agency employees -- but in fact intended for the reporters to whom it was sent moments ago -- Panetta called the information contained in the 2004 report "old news." He pointed out that the CIA referred cases of abuse to DOJ for prosecution. And he noted: "The Agency sought and received multiple written assurances that its methods were lawful."

Panetta's preemptive message may signal that the report contains even more damaging information than anticipated about Bush-era abuses.

Meanwhile, ABCNews.com is reporting that Panetta last month was involved in a "profanity-laced screaming match" at the White House over DOJ plans to probe whether CIA officers broke the law in carrying out the harsh interrogation techniques.

[Late Update: Greg Sargent adds that in addition to the report itself...

The CIA today will release the two documents Dick Cheney requested this spring that he claims will prove torture worked.

I've also confirmed that the CIA will release a declassified version of the chapter in the CIA Inspector General's 2004 report that's widely expected to conclude that there's no proof torture foiled any attacks.

That jibes with Panetta's statement in his message that "the CIA materials include the 2004 report from our Office of Inspector General and two papers--one from 2004 and the other from 2005--that discuss the value of intelligence acquired from high-level detainees."]

The full message from Panetta follows...

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DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility

NYT: DOJ Report Recommends Reopening Prisoner Abuse Cases -- Holder Now "All But Certain" To Probe Torture

Zachary Roth | August 24, 2009, 9:16AM

President Obama's desire to look forward, not back, is turning out to be easier said than done.

Last week, Newsweek reported that the long awaited CIA report on torture, set to be released today, reveals that agency interrogators staged mock executions of detainees.

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