Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Intelligence Committee has the unredacted CIA torture report. Sending the report to the President for him to redact was a pointless charade if Feinstein doesn’t like the redactions.
Who has final say on the report’s redaction is a legitimate question now. How many times will the report be passed like the hot potato that it is from Capitol Hill to the White House until Feinstein decides it’s just right? Will the report be released in our lifetimes?
If Feinstein's committee has final say on the redactions, as she said in a statement today, to the extent that the public will never see it unless she approves, why bother sending it to the White House. She was at the White House on July 31 in a face-to-face meeting with the President. Why wasn't this resolved at that meeting?
The bottom line is the public wants to see this report now.
Forget about the distraction of those who parrot the far-right’s blame Obama catcalls. They are obviously not on top of this issue. I heard so much griping from them about the Democratic party I thought they’d be all over Feinstein right now to cut the crap and release the unredacted report that we know she has. But their minds are focused on Obama right now and on unconventional culinary items that would even make the jaded Anthony Bourdain raise an eyebrow.
What else should interested citizens ask these days?
- Who are the 6 Senators on the Intelligence committee who voted against adopting the CIA torture report in December 2012?
- Who are the 3 Senators on the Intelligence Committee who voted against making the CIA torture report public in April 2014, and the one whose vote is missing?
- Are any of these Senators up for reelection this year?
- Why aren’t their names written across the sky right now for the entire nation to see?
Anyone can call Feinstein and the other Senators on the committee to urge them to release the unredacted CIA torture report now.
Senator |
State |
Party |
Phone number |
Richard Burr |
North Carolina |
Republican |
(202) 224-3154 |
Saxby Chambliss |
Georgia |
Republican |
(202) 224-3521 |
Daniel Coats |
Indiana |
Republican |
(202) 224-5623 |
Tom Coburn |
Oklahoma |
Republican |
(202) 224-5754 |
Susan Collins |
Maine |
Republican |
(202) 224-2523 |
Dianne Feinstein |
California |
Democrat |
(202) 224-3841 |
Martin Heinrich |
New Mexico |
Democrat |
(202) 224-5521 |
Angus King |
Maine |
Independent |
(202) 224-5344 |
Barbara A. Mikulski |
Maryland |
Democrat |
(202) 224-4654 |
James E. Risch |
Idaho |
Republican |
(202) 224-2752 |
John D. Rockefeller IV |
West Virginia |
Democrat |
(202) 224-6472 |
Marco Rubio |
Florida |
Republican |
(202) 224-3041 |
Mark Udall |
Colorado |
Democrat |
(202) 224-5941 |
Mark Warner |
Virginia |
Democrat |
(202) 224-2023 |
Ron Wyden |
Oregon |
Democrat |
(202) 224-5244 |
Background
The Senate Intelligence Committee initiated the study of CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program in March 2009. Committee staff received more than 6 million pages of materials, the overwhelming majority of which came from the CIA, but also included documents from the Departments of State, Justice and Defense. Committee staff reviewed CIA operational cables, memoranda, internal communications, photographs, financial documents, intelligence analysis, transcripts and summaries of interviews conducted by the CIA inspector general while the program was ongoing and other records for the study.
In December 2012, the committee approved the report with a bipartisan vote of 9-6 and sent it to the executive branch for comment. For the past several months, the committee staff has reviewed all comments by the CIA as well as minority views by committee Republicans and made changes to the report as necessary to ensure factual accuracy and clarity.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/...
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Apr 20 2009
Senator Feinstein Urges President Obama to Withhold Judgment on Prosecutions Related to CIA Interrogation Program
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, today urged President Obama to withhold judgment on potential criminal prosecutions related to CIA interrogations until the committee completes its review of the Agency’s program.
Here is Senator Feinstein’s letter to the President:
April 20, 2009
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing to respectfully request that comments regarding holding individuals accountable for detention and interrogation related activities be held in reserve until the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is able to complete its review of the conditions and interrogations of certain high value detainees.
This study is now underway, and I estimate its completion within the next six to eight months. A study of the first two detainees has already been completed and will shortly be before the committee.
Sincerely Yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/...
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Dec 13 2012
Feinstein Statement on CIA Detention, Interrogation Report Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, today released the following statement after the committee voted 9-6 to approve its Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/...
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Mar 11 2014
Statement on Intel Committee’s CIA Detention, Interrogation Report
Washington—Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the committee’s study on the CIA Detention and Interrogation Program:
“Over the past week, there have been numerous press articles written about the Intelligence Committee’s oversight review of the Detention and Interrogation Program of the CIA, specifically press attention has focused on the CIA’s intrusion and search of the Senate Select Committee’s computers as well as the committee’s acquisition of a certain internal CIA document known as the Panetta Review.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/...
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Apr 03 2014
Intelligence Committee Votes to Declassify Portions of CIA Study
Washington—Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the committee voted to declassify the executive summary and conclusions of its landmark report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/...
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