Sen. Feinstein Tweet-Storms CIA Director’s Torture Speech
As CIA Director John Brennan addressed her report on the agency’s torture practices under the Bush administration Thursday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) tweeted fiery rebuttals to his claims.
Feinstein oversaw the report, which took five years to complete, and which found the gruesomely-detailed acts were ultimately ineffective in procuring actionable intelligence. Brennan argued in a rare speech that the CIA was unprepared for its interrogatory function following 9/11 and improvised its tactics in the wake of the attack. He criticized the report for not including testimony from the officers and agents in charge of the program, and disputed its finding on the inefficacy of the practices.
Read the tweets below:
CIA says "unknowable" if we could have gotten the intel other ways. Study shows it IS knowable: CIA had info before torture. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Executive summary backed up by 6,700-page classified report, 38,000 footnotes. Every fact based on CIA record, cables, etc. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
RELATED: ‘Is There a Question?’ Feinstein Gets Testy with Blitzer over Torture Report
CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, DOD, NGA, State Dept, DHS and many other agencies help keep us safe. Torture does not. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Coercive interrogation techniques don’t work. Traditional intelligence collection, interrogation and law enforcement do. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
CIA spent $40 million, a process that made the study last longer than five years. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
The report has had bipartisan support from the start. 14-1 vote initiated, 9-6 approved (w/ Senator Snowe)
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Full Senate Intel Committee not briefed until four years after program began, hours before it was made public. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Brennan: "unknowable" if we could have gotten the intel other ways. Study shows it IS knowable: CIA had info before torture. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Former CIA General Counsel Preston says CIA provided inaccurate information. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
“Useful information” was not the legal policy standard for EITs. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
CIA helps keep our nation safe, strong. Torture does not. We must learn from our mistakes. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
No evidence that terror attacks were stopped, terrorists captured or lives saved through use of EITs. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
Internal CIA "Panetta Review" agreed with study’s conclusions. #ReadTheReport
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 11, 2014
[Image via screengrab]
