In testimonial that could strengthen Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the CIA misinformed in its briefings on interrogation of detainees, former Senator Bob Graham insisted Thursday that he was held in ignorance about the use of water on board, and called the Agency on these issues briefings “suspect.”
In the interview with the Huffington Post, the former chairman of the Committee on Intelligence of the Senate said that about a month before, the CIA gave false information on the number of times and when he was informed of interrogation strengthened.
“When this problem started back I called people from the agency and said I’d like to know the dates of your files, briefings were held,” said Mr. Graham. “They did contact to me and provide me four dates – the first two in april’02 and two september’02. Now, one things I did and I took some Flack is holding a notebook spiral on what I do all day. And then I carried out my books and a combination of my everyday life I love, and my notebooks, I confirm and the CIA decided that my notes are correct, that three of the four dates that have not been exposed. There was one day, I was informed that 27 September 2002. ”
In the case of a presentation he did participate in the Florida Democrat said he had ”no recollection that issues like water boarding was discussed.” There is no the sensitive nature of the issues allowed to take notes at the time. But it was highlighted what he considers to be fairly strong evidence that the controversial way has not been examined.
”… It struck me is the fact that in this presentation, there were two officers,” he says. ”May be you know, the basic rule is that the executive is to inform the full committee in the House and Senate intelligence committees on current or proposed action. The exception to this is what is called “action” where the President … that the mandates of the Gang of Eight, the 4 congressional leaders and the 4 leaders of the Intelligence Committee. These meetings are generally conducted on the executive of the site, mainly to White House itself. And they’re made with authorized personnel only, not all employees, or any different member of the committee …. This put me to conclude that this wasn’t supported by the CIA ‘s be a gang of eight briefing. Otherwise they’d not have room staff. And then it makes me think they did not inform us on any of the sensitive applications such as water d boarding or other forms of excessive interrogation. ”
The comments of the resistance offered by the Graham Committee Pelosi Thursday. He said that in his briefing session in the fall of 2002, she wasn’t only kept in the dark on the issue of water on board, she was sure she hadn’t been used.
”Yes, I say that the CIA was misinforming the Congress,” she said.
However, the documents and testimony show that senior aides were present at a briefing in February 2003, when the water boarding was considered by the CIA with Reps. Porter Goss & Jane Harman.
Graham refused to speculate on what took place in Pelosi’s presentation, noting that the House and also Senate have totally different sessions. But he notes that when ”the whole credibility of the intelligence committees, including the CIA, has been strongly questioned” – gives confidence in Pelosi claims it gave false information.
“Ironically,” said Graham, “is that the entire series of events at the end of September i’02 was simultaneous with the CIA, the release of the first edition of the classified National Intelligence Estimate , which was among the main factors that forced me to vote against the war in Iraq because I think their case was so powerless. And they have done so for the public from these very courageous statements about how we were in extreme danger, if we do not move too quickly to remove Saddam Hussein. The whole “smoking gun area May be present in the form of a mushroom cloud” kind of argument. “
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