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CIA Chiefs Ask Obama to Scrap Interrogation Probe

Nick McMaster — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:05:55 CDT

Seven former CIA directors—appointees of both political parties—are calling on the Obama administration to call off the Justice Department’s investigation of Bush-era interrogation practices, the Hill reports. The probe, ordered by AG Eric Holder, will reveal too much about the CIA’s methods in an environment where "success often...

CIA Refuses to Hand Over Interrogation Records

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:22:30 CDT

The CIA has refused to hand over any more documents relating to its Bush-era interrogation and detention programs, the New York Times reports. The agency told a federal judge that dozens of documents, including communications from secret prisons and agency assessments of the programs' legality, must remain secret in the...

US Lets Allies Detain, Grill Terror Suspects

Wesley Oliver — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:53:00 CDT

The Obama administration is stepping up its reliance on foreign allies to capture, interrogate, and detain mid-level terror suspects seized outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. In the last 10 months, Middle Eastern governments have handled the cases of about six al-Qaeda operatives. “It’s the preferred...

Cheney Spouts 'Red Herrings and Lies'

John Johnson — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:34:59 CDT

Today's speech was "classic Dick Cheney," writes Fred Kaplan in Slate, and he doesn't mean it as a compliment. The former VP "built a case on straw men, red herrings, and lies" and put his "Manichean worldview" on full display. Kaplan labels as "blatant evasion" a core part of Cheney's...

CIA Tapes Were Made—and Destroyed—for PR

Nick McMaster — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:30:00 CST

Concern over its image prompted the CIA to first secretly create—and later destroy—tapes depicting the harsh interrogation of detainees, the New York Times reports. In spring 2002 the agency decided to document every moment of senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah's custody so that perceptions of mistreatment—by prosecutors,...

Judge Orders Hearing on Destroyed CIA Tapes

Jonas Oransky — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:25:00 CST

A federal judge scheduled a hearing today to address whether the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes violated a court order, the Washington Post reports. The order—issued with no comment—is a blow to the Justice Department, which has launched a probe with the CIA and contends the federal courts...

Biden Calls for CIA Video Probe

Lucas Laursen — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:00:00 CST

Sen. Joe Biden has called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videos of interrogations of suspected terrorists. Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cited Mukasey's unwillingness, during confirmation hearings, to take a stand on whether waterboarding is...

Dems Demand Probe Over CIA Tapes

Jonas Oransky — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:06:17 CST

Democrats accused the CIA of a cover-up today in the wake of the revelation that the agency destroyed interrogation tapes and called for the attorney general to investigate. Ted Kennedy rejected the agency's excuse that it scrubbed the tapes to protect interrogators and suggested the censors merely knew how “abhorrent”...

CIA Destroyed Videos of Interrogations

John Johnson — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:04:37 CST

The CIA destroyed in 2005 videotapes showing the harsh interrogation of at least two terrorism suspects, the New York Times reports. The destruction could raise serious legal issues if the CIA is shown to have withheld tapes from federal prosecutors and the 9/11 commission. The tapes included the 2002 questioning...