A. The CIA Provides Information on the Still-Classified Detention and Interrogation Program to Journalists Who then Publish Classified Information; CIA Does Not File Crimes Reports in Connection with the Stories

A. The CIA Provides Information on the Still-Classified Detention and Interrogation Program to Journalists Who then Publish Classified Information; CIA Does Not File Crimes Reports in Connection with the Stories

¶In seeking to shape press reporting on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, CIA officers and the CIA's Office of Public Affairs (OPA) provided unattributed background information on the program to journalists for books, articles, and broadcasts, including when the existence of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program was still classified.^22552255 On October 28, 2013, the CIA informed the Committee that "CIA policy is to conduct background briefings using unclassified or declassified information" (DTS #2013-3152). When the journalists to whom the CIA had provided background information published classified information, the CIA did not, as a matter of policy, submit crimes reports^ For example, as described in internal emails, the CIA's [Redacted]

¶[Redacted] never opened an investigation related to Ronald Kessler's book The CIA at War, despite the inclusion of classified information, because "the book contained no first time disclosures," and because "OPA provided assistance with the book."^22562256 Email [Redacted] to: [REDACTED], [Redacted] [REDACTED], [REDACTED]; cc: [Redacted]; subject: CIA at War; date: January 20, 2004, at 11:13 AM; email from: [Redacted] t o : [Redacted] cc: [REDACTED], [ R E D A C T E [Redacted] [REDACTED]; subject: Re: C l ^ ^ a r ; date: January 21, 2004, at 02:11 PM; email from: [Redacted] W. Muller, John A. Rizzo, [Redacted] [Redacted] c c : [Redacted] subject: Re: CIA at Warjdate^anuary21, 2004, at 02:27 P ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^Show full note Senior Deputy General Counsel John Rizzo wrote that the CIA made the determination because the CIA's cooperation with Kessler had been "blessed" by the CIA director.^22572257 [Redacted] [Redacted] Email John A. Rizzo; to: cc: [Redacted] Scott W. Muller, [REDACTED]; subject: Re: CIA at War; date: January 22,2004, at 09:28 AM. In another example, CIA officers and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence raised concerns that an article by Douglas Jehl in the New York Times contained significant classified information.^22582258 «R u ] e Change Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad to .Tails," by Douglas Jehl and David Johnston, The New cc: York Times, March 6,2005; email from: [Redacted] to: [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted]; subject: Question on 06 March New York Times revelations; date: April 22, 2005, at 01:38 [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] PM; email from: [Redacted] to: cc: [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted]; subject: Re: Question on 06 March New York Times revelations; date [Redacted] April28 [Redacted] 2005, at 2258 [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] f®Emailfrom: to: cc: [Redacted] subject: Re: Question on 06 March New York Times revelations; date: April 28, 2005, at 8:25:23Show full note

¶[Redacted]CTC Legal wrote in an email that "part of this article was based on 'background' provided by OPA. That, essentially, negates any use in making an unauthorized disclosure [report]."2259

¶Both the Kessler book and the Jehl article included inaccurate claims about the effectiveness of CIA interrogations, much of it consistent with the inaccurate information being provided by the CIA to policymakers at the time. For example, Kessler's book stated that the FBI arrest of Iyman Faris was "[b]ased on information from the CIA's interrogation of [KSM]," and that the arrest of Khallad bin Attash was the "result" of CIA interrogations of KSM.^22602260 The CIA at War, Ronald Kessler, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2003. As detailed elsewhere, Iyman Faris was already under investigation and Majid Khan, who was then in foreign government custody, had discussed Faris, prior to any mention of Faris by KSM. Likewise, the capture of Khallad bin Attash in April 2003 was unrelated to the reporting from KSM or any other CIA detainee. Kessler's book also stated that Abu Zubaydah "soon began singing to the FBI and CIA about other planned plots," and that "intercepts and information developed months earlier after the arrest of Ramzi Binalshibh... allowed the CIA to trace [KSM]." (See Ronald Kessler, The CIA at War, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2003.) As detailed elsewhere, Abu Zubaydah did not provide intelligence on al- Qa'ida "planned plots," and KSM's capture was unrelated to information provided by Ramzi bin Al-Shibh. Finally, Kessler's book stated that KSM "told the CIA about a range of planned attacks - on U.S. convoys in Afghanistan, nightclubs in Dubai, targets in Turkey, and an Israeli embassy in the Middle East. Within a few months the transcripts of his interrogations were four feet high." These statements were incongruent with CIA records.Show full note The Jehl article stated that a "secret program to transfer suspected terrorists to foreign countries for interrogation has been carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency... according to current and former government officials." The article stated that a "senior United States official" had "provid[ed] a detailed description of the program," and quoted the official as claiming that "[t]he intelligence obtained by those rendered, detained and interrogated ha[d] disrupted terrorist operations." The senior official added, "[i]t has saved lives in the United States and abroad, and it has resulted in the capture of other terrorists."^22612261 "R U [ e Change Lets C.I. A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad," by Douglas Jehl and David Johnston, The New York Times, March 6, 2005.