CIA Directors Tell Obama to Reverse Holder’s Inquiry, Flub Basic Facts
Every living CIA director -- except Bob Gates and Leon Panetta, of course* (Update: and President George H.W. Bush and Adm. Stansfield Turner) -- has signed a
Jul 31, 2020143.5K Shares2.8M Views
Every living CIA director — except Bob Gates and Leon Panetta, of course* (Update: and President George H.W. Bush and Adm. Stansfield Turner) — has signed a letter to President Obama urging him to stop Attorney General Eric Holder’s CIA torture inquiry, Marc Ambinder reports. Some of the arguments they make are, uh, more factually-challenged than others. For instance:
“„“Not only will some members of the intelligence community be subjected to costly financial and other burdens from what amounts to endless criminal investigations, but this approach will seriously damage the willingness of many other intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country,” the directors write.
Actually, the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act has that covered. The taxpayer foots the bill for any government employee under investigation for detainee abuse:
Needless to say, of course, that three of the signatories of the letter — George Tenet, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden — made key decisions that placed CIA interrogators in positions where they would be potentially subject to criminal liability. There’s no evidence remorse for those decisions in the letter.
- Update: Via Twitter, ABC’s Tapper reminds me that former president George W. Bush and Adm. Stansfield Turner are two other CIA directors who didn’t sign the letter. Thanks for the correction; I correct the error.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
Latest Articles
Popular Articles