Emmons writes: "Government lawyers on Thursday continued their fight to bury
the Senate Torture Report, arguing before the D.C. District Court of Appeals
that the 6,700-page text could not be released on procedural grounds."
Guantanamo Bay detainees. (photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
The US Government Is Still Fighting to Bury the Senate Torture Report
By Alex Emmons, The Intercept
20 March 16
Government lawyers on Thursday continued their fight to bury the Senate
Torture Report, arguing before the D.C. District Court of Appeals that the
6,700-page text could not be released on procedural grounds.
When the 500-page executive summary of the report was released more than a
year ago, it prompted international outcry and renewed calls for
prosecution. The summary describes not only the CIA's rape and torture of
detainees, but also how the agency consistently misrepresented the brutality
and effectiveness of the torture program.
But many of the most graphic details are in Volume III of the full report,
which former Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein has said
contains "excruciating" details on "each of the 119 known individuals who
were held in CIA custody."
The ACLU filed for the release of the full report under the Freedom of
Information Act. Thursday's hearing centered on the question of whether the
report is an "agency record," and thus subject to FOIA. Alternatively, if
the report is a "congressional record," its disclosure cannot be requested
under the statute.
On the same day the executive summary was released, the Intelligence
Committee sent copies of the full report to executive branch agencies with
instructions from then-chair Feinstein that they be used "as broadly as
appropriate to make sure that this experience is never repeated."
Hina Shamsi, the director of the ACLU's National Security Project, told the
panel of judges "there was no clear assertion of [congressional] control. To
the contrary, that control was transferred, with broad language."
The government argued that sending copies was the work of Feinstein alone,
not the entire committee. "The views of a single senator may be less
reliable," said Thomas Pulham, an attorney with the Justice Department's
Office of Legal Counsel.
In rebuttal, Shamsi stated that in December 2014, "There was no objection by
any member with respect to [the report's] transfer by the committee."
The Republican-controlled committee is now trying to rescind the report.
Last year, after succeeding Feinstein as chair, Sen. Richard Burr, R-Ga.,
requested that the copies distributed to federal agencies be returned to
Congress, prompting a legal standoff over who has control over the
distributed copies.
In the meantime, according to a letter from Feinstein and Sen. Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt., the Justice Department has "refuse[d] to allow executive
branch officials to review the full and final study." Officials at the
departments of Justice and State had not even removed the copies from their
packaging, according to a court filing.
Last year, the Polish government requested a copy of the report for its
investigation into torture at CIA black sites in Eastern Europe. The U.S.
administration has not responded to the request.
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Guantanamo Bay detainees. (photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/17/the-u-s-government-is-still-fighting-to-
bury-the-senate-torture-report/https://theintercept.com/2016/03/17/the-u-s-g
overnment-is-still-fighting-to-bury-the-senate-torture-report/
The US Government Is Still Fighting to Bury the Senate Torture Report
By Alex Emmons, The Intercept
20 March 16
overnment lawyers on Thursday continued their fight to bury the Senate
Torture Report, arguing before the D.C. District Court of Appeals that the
6,700-page text could not be released on procedural grounds.
When the 500-page executive summary of the report was released more than a
year ago, it prompted international outcry and renewed calls for
prosecution. The summary describes not only the CIA's rape and torture of
detainees, but also how the agency consistently misrepresented the brutality
and effectiveness of the torture program.
But many of the most graphic details are in Volume III of the full report,
which former Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein has said
contains "excruciating" details on "each of the 119 known individuals who
were held in CIA custody."
The ACLU filed for the release of the full report under the Freedom of
Information Act. Thursday's hearing centered on the question of whether the
report is an "agency record," and thus subject to FOIA. Alternatively, if
the report is a "congressional record," its disclosure cannot be requested
under the statute.
On the same day the executive summary was released, the Intelligence
Committee sent copies of the full report to executive branch agencies with
instructions from then-chair Feinstein that they be used "as broadly as
appropriate to make sure that this experience is never repeated."
Hina Shamsi, the director of the ACLU's National Security Project, told the
panel of judges "there was no clear assertion of [congressional] control. To
the contrary, that control was transferred, with broad language."
The government argued that sending copies was the work of Feinstein alone,
not the entire committee. "The views of a single senator may be less
reliable," said Thomas Pulham, an attorney with the Justice Department's
Office of Legal Counsel.
In rebuttal, Shamsi stated that in December 2014, "There was no objection by
any member with respect to [the report's] transfer by the committee."
The Republican-controlled committee is now trying to rescind the report.
Last year, after succeeding Feinstein as chair, Sen. Richard Burr, R-Ga.,
requested that the copies distributed to federal agencies be returned to
Congress, prompting a legal standoff over who has control over the
distributed copies.
In the meantime, according to a letter from Feinstein and Sen. Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt., the Justice Department has "refuse[d] to allow executive
branch officials to review the full and final study." Officials at the
departments of Justice and State had not even removed the copies from their
packaging, according to a court filing.
Last year, the Polish government requested a copy of the report for its
investigation into torture at CIA black sites in Eastern Europe. The U.S.
administration has not responded to the request.
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