One of the more disturbing revelations that emerged since the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture was the fact that many officials allegedly involved in the CIA torture program not only escaped justice but also have received considerable financial remuneration or prestigious positions since the events described in the report. Shockingly, some appear to still have senior-level positions within the CIA, itself (well into the Obama administration).
The DOJ declined to bring any criminal charges against those involved in the program, back in 2012, and reiterated that no charges would be forthcoming after the report was released. The Obama administration's refusal to hold individuals accountable for their conduct has fostered an environment where war crimes did pay for many of the key players.
John "Bruce" Jessen and James E. Mitchell
Jessen and Mitchell were likely the biggest beneficiaries of the CIA torture program. The two psychologists, described as "torture teachers" and the "architects" of the program; their company (Mitchell, Jessen and Associates) was paid $81 million related to its role in the detention and interrogation program.
Not only were Jessen and Mitchell likely the biggest financial beneficiaries of the program, they were instrumental to the program's creation and implementation:
the CIA did not seek them out "after a decision was made to use coercive interrogation techniques; rather, [they] played a role in convincing the CIA to adopt such a policy," the report says. (LA Times)
Jessen has a
$1.2 million home in Washington state while Mitchell is
"retired".
John Yoo and Jay Bybee
Yoo, a DOJ lawyer whose "torture memo" gave legal cover to "enhanced interrogation" is now a law professor at Berkeley Law School and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. John Yoo's op-eds defending torture have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News, and he has been given airtime on CBS. His op-eds have also been published by the Wall Street Journal.
Like Yoo, Jay Bybee was a lawyer at DOJ and author of one of the "torture memos" that provided legal justification for "enhanced interrogation." He is now a sitting Federal judge and Senior Fellow in Constitutional Law at UNLV Law School.
Given that Yoo's and Bybee's legal advice at DOJ was generously described as "flawed" while Representative John Conyers Jr said Yoo and Bybee "dishonored their office and the entire Department of Justice," it is remarkable that Yoo and Bybee hold law school professorships. Yoo and Bybee only narrowly avoided professional censure after the Office of Professional Responsibility released a report indicating that Yoo and Bybee committed "professional misconduct."
Even the Dean of the Law School at University of California Irvine, Erwin Chemerinsky, has called for Yoo to be prosecuted for his conduct at DOJ.
Condoleezza Rice
Rice allegedly "personally approved" the "enhanced interrogation techniques" and subsequently "stated to the Senate Armed Services Committee that she had attended meetings where the CIA interrogation request was discussed but could not recall details." Despite her questionable ethics and fuzzy memory, Rice became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, was welcomed back to a professorship at Stanford, and founded a consulting firm with fellow Bush administration veterans Stephen Hadley and Robert Gates. She also sits on the board of directors of the technology company Dropbox.
Alfreda Bikowsky
On December 19th, The Intercept reporters unmasked Alfreda Bikowsky as the previously "Unidentified Queen of Torture". Bikowsky was allegedly "a CIA analyst who is partially responsible for intelligence lapses that led to 9/11" and has risen to the position of "Chief of CIA's Global Jihad Unit."
Jose Rodriguez
Rodriguez was the Director of the National Clandestine Service at the CIA, and ordered the destruction of videotape recordings of CIA "enhanced interrogation" sessions after the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request. According to an internal e-mail described by Courthouse News:
CIA general counsel John Rizzo was upset by the news, and a later email said that former White House counsel Harriet Myers was "livid."
Despite his role in ordering the destruction of the tapes, Rodriguez was
not prosecuted for his actions. After leaving the CIA, he became a Senior Vice President of Edge Consulting prior to its parent company's
acquisition by IBM.
Rodriguez also had a book deal that led to the publication of Hard Measures. While the current Senate torture report exposes key assertions in his book as false, and not merely "apologia", and his 2012 appearance on 60 Minutes was described as "truly sociopathic", Rodriguez was subsequently given airtime on Fox News where he argued that the "CIA was thrown under the bus."
Michael Hayden
Michael Hayden was a Director of the CIA who allegedly misled Congress about the program. In the words of the Washington Post:
Hayden comes under particularly pointed scrutiny in the report, which includes a 38-page table comparing his statements to often conflicting agency documents. The section is listed as an "example of inaccurate CIA testimony."
The Post created a
side-by-side fact-check of key Hayden testimony to the testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2007.
Hayden recently defended "rectal rehydration" as a "necessary" medical procedure in his appearance with Jake Tapper on CNN.
Hayden was appointed to the board of directors of publicly traded Motorola Solutions in 2011. He is listed as a "Principal of the Chertoff Group, a security consultancy company." Hayden is also a "Distinguished Visiting Professor" at George Mason University and is associated with the Aspen Institute and the Leading Authorities speakers bureau. The low end of the range for Hayden's speaking fee is listed as $20,001.
John Brennan
Current Obama administration CIA Director John Brennan was described as a "supporter" of the CIA interrogation and detention program in 2008. In fact, Guardian reported that he "withdrew his name from consideration [for CIA Director]" following "strong criticism prompted by previous service with the CIA." He was accused by outgoing Senator Mark Udall of "deceit" regarding the program. Obama continues to stand by Brennan.
Michael D’Andrea
According to a recent New York Times report, D’Andrea is:
a gaunt, chain-smoking convert to Islam who was chief of operations during the birth of the agency’s detention and interrogation program and then, as head of the C.I.A. Counterterrorism Center, became an architect of the targeted killing program. Until last month, when Mr. D’Andrea was quietly shifted to another job, he presided over the growth of C.I.A. drone operations and hundreds of strikes in Pakistan and Yemen during nine years in the position.
In at least the cases of Bikowsky and D'Andrea, senior CIA officials were retained (and promoted) despite alleged involvement with the torture program. It is unclear from the report how many other individuals within the CIA have remained in their positions or been promoted following their involvement in the torture program. Ron Wyden described the CIA culture, following the torture report's release, as one of
"denial". Meanwhile, Mark Udall argued passionately that the CIA should be purged of those associated with the torture program. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has ignored their calls for change at the CIA.
An earlier version of this article originally appeared on my blog, and this version was edited and updated to include an additional account of an individual formerly involved in the morally bankrupt CIA torture apparatus.