Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA

Inquiry to focus on controversial interrogation and detention program

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 27, 2009 4:22 AM CST

(Newser) – The Senate Intelligence Committee plans a sweeping investigation into the CIA's actions under President Bush, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials say the probe is a fact-finding mission rather than an investigation into whether laws were broken, but the inquiry is certain to put the spotlight back on the agency's use of harsh interrogation techniques in secret prisons.

Officials say the investigation will delve deeply into the agency's "crown jewels" of sensitive information, and focus on whether the controversial measures approved by Bush and ended by President Obama succeeding in extracting any useful information from detainees. New CIA chief Leon Panetta has pledged to fully cooperate with any congressional investigation.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A man walks across the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at the lobby of the Original Headquarters Building at the CIA headquarters. (Getty Images)

A demonstrator dresses as a detainee at a protest last year to protest George Bush's veto of a bill prohibiting US intelligence agencies from subjecting detainees to torture. (Getty Images)

CIA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington last year. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The purpose here is to do fact-finding in order to learn lessons from the programs and see if there are recommendations to be made for detention and interrogations in the future. - A senior Senate aide

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Getty Images

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Man in Mugshot Explains Why He Has Half a Head (HuffPost)

These Exes Were Spotted Making Out … and That's a Bad Thing (Bleacher Report)

Help! I'm Having an Incestuous Relationship With My Twin (Slate)

Which Celeb Dedicated Song to Her Famous Husband Despite Divorce Rumors? (NewsOne)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

Caps

Feb 27, 2009 10:04 PM CST

Mad, they won't because they have no conscience.

Chudluv

Feb 27, 2009 1:34 AM CST

Oboy, can we at least keep our feet on the ground. You're missing the point here that Mad has grasped. Oversite would help keep some of the "bad" CIA in check, but if they want to keep ANYTHING "black". No oversite or probes are going to bring them to light. Though, I can't point out why I know this. Take my word that you see only 1 percent of what goes on.

Mad

Feb 26, 2009 10:27 PM CST

Congressional oversite. How refreshing after an absence for many years. Hope many Bushies spend sleepless nights with worry over what they have done

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds Major Cash Inside

Goats Have Accents: Study

Los Angeles Times (Source Grid »)

Senate panel to pursue CIA probe
New York Times

New CIA chief sees no place for harsh techniques
CNN

Politics

Bush administration • War on Terror • CIA • secret prisons • Senate Intelligence Committee • counterterrorism • interrogation • waterboarding • harsh interrogation • Leon Panetta

More Newser Stories

Pelosi Raises Stakes in Torture Debate

Speaker puts herself at center of storm over Bush policies

(NEWSER) - Whether by accident or design, Nancy Pelosi has turned the debate on the Bush administration's anti-terror program into a high-stakes game of brinksmanship, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post. Pelosi's declaration yesterday that the CIA lied to Congress amounts to "a declaration of war," Balz writes, setting the stage for a long battle certain to claim political casualties. More»

Rove: Pelosi's an Accomplice to Torture

'Someone appears not to be telling the truth' about waterboarding

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove indulges in a bit of revenge on Nancy Pelosi in his Wall Street Journal column today, writing that "the political persecution of Bush administration officials she has been pushing may now ensnare her." As evidence mounts that the CIA told her as early as 2002 about waterboarding—which "Democrats are calling" torture—Rove wonders whether Pelosi should be considered "an accessory to a crime." More»

US Readied Waterboarding as Early as 2001

Harsh tactics were readied even before suspects captured

(NEWSER) - The Bush administration prepared to use waterboarding and other harsh tactics widely considered to be torture 8 months before the Justice Department approved them, and even before capturing a high-level terrorist suspect, the Washington Post reports. A Senate investigation reveals these brutal interrogation methods were approved despite warnings that they violated US and international law and produced unreliable confessions. More»

CIA Heavily Edits FBI Agent's 9/11 Book

Cuts are due to criticism of CIA, author says

(NEWSER) - After the FBI submitted a former agent's 600-page memoir about the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath to the CIA, the agency responded with a 181-page list of cuts it wanted to make. Author Ali Soufan—an Arabic-speaking counterterrorism agent who played a central role in many investigations—says the cuts are being demanded not for national security reasons, but because parts of his memoir reflect badly on the CIA, the New York Times finds. More»

CIA Manipulated Every Detail of Interrogation Sessions

Top-level approval of interrogation techniques could complicate Justice probe

(NEWSER) - As the CIA discloses internal reports concerning “enhanced” interrogation techniques on detainees at secret prisons, the ugliest details—threats of execution and harm with a power drill—have grabbed headlines. But the documents also reveal an intriguing level of control that the CIA and Department of Justice maintained over every detail of interrogations—down to the size of light bulbs in a cell—in a painstaking attempt to keep the abuse within a hair's breath of the law, the New York Times reports. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA