Feinstein: Keep CIA Out of Report Declassification

April 9th, 2014

David Schulberg

Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D – CA) is urging the Obama Administration to take direct lead of the declassification process for her panel’s CIA torture report, saying the CIA should not be allowed to do it.

The CIA has been fighting for years to bury the 481-page summary of the many thousand-page report on their detentions and torture of detainees in the wake of 9/11, blasting the report as bias against it. They have also hit out at Feinstein in recent days, insisting the Senator is too emotional to discuss enhanced interrogation techniques with.

Sen. John McCain (R – AZ) backed Feinstein’s call, saying “she doesn’t trust the CIA. I think she’s probably right. I don’t trust them either.” Both are pushing for the report to be released with “minimal redactions,” while the CIA seems reluctant to let much of anything go public.

The White House comments suggest this is unlikely, as they have repeatedly endorsed the CIA leading the declassification “in consultation with other agencies,” while Attorney General Eric Holder suggested that redactions would be necessary “to protect national security.”