Sens. Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Susan Collins, a Republican who is as close to a maverick as the party includes these days, announced Wednesday that they will vote to declassify the “Finding & Conclusions” and the Executive Summary of the 6,300-page torture report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Both senators are members of the 15-member committee, which is scheduled to vote on declassification Thursday.
Good to hear. But even if the vote is favorable, as now seems probable, it might be months or longer before the public actually sees the report, which was completed 16 months ago. It has been the subject of review by the CIA and unproductive discussions between committee members and the agency, which ran the torture program whose methods became euphemized as “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The CIA would almost certainly seek a final review of the parts of the report the committee seeks to declassify.
Having the CIA handle such a review is especially troubling given the details of the report that have been leaked to the press. In addition to what was already known, what those details show is that the agency intentionally released false information to persuade people that torture works and that it employed methods of torture not previously confirmed. Nobody should be surprised by either of those revelations.
More on the report and possibility of declassification below the fold.
Maine"s senators will vote to declassify torture report summary. But don"t expect to read it soon
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