The CIA denied former-Vice President Dick Cheney’s formal request for memos that he claims show the benefits of the harsh interrogation methods used against suspected terrorists, The Washington Post reported this afternoon.
CIA spokesperson Paul Gimigliano said Cheney’s request was refused because of pending legal action, The Post reported.
“For that reason — and that reason only — CIA did not accept Mr. Cheney’s request for a mandatory declassification review,” Gimigliano told The Post.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) said at a Judiciary subcommittee hearing yesterday that the memos do not support the claims that Cheney has repeatedly made.
“Nothing I have seen — including the two documents to which former vice president Cheney has repeatedly referred — indicates that the torture techniques authorized by the last administration were necessary, or that they were the best way to get information out of detainees,” Feingold said.
