C. No Detailed Records Exist of CIA Briefings of Committee Leadership; the CIA Declines to Answer Questions from Committee Members or Provide Requested Materials

¶On February 4, 2003, the CIA briefed the new chairman, Senator Pat Roberts, and the two staff directors. Vice Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV was not present. The only record of the briefing, a two-page CIA memorandum, states that CIA officers:

"described in great detail the importance of the information provided by [Abu] Zubayda[h] and ['Abd al-Rahim al-] Nashiri, both of whom had information of on-going terrorist operations, information that might well have saved American lives, the difficulty of getting that information from them, and the importance of the enhanced techniques in getting that information."²⁴⁶²²⁴⁶² Moskowitz Memorandum for the Reci ' " ' "" ' ' ' " 'ive Notification."

¶As described in this summary, and in greater detail in the full Committee Study, Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri did not provide actionable intelligence on ongoing plotting, and provided significant reporting prior to the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. The CIA declined to provide information pursuant to a request from Chairman Roberts on the location of the CIA's detention site. Finally, the CIA memorandum states that Chairman Roberts "gave his assent" to the destruction of interrogation videotapes; however, this account in the CIA memorandum was later disputed by Chairman Roberts.²⁴⁶³²⁴⁶³ Moskowitz Memorandum for the Record, February 4, 2003, "Subject: Sensitive Notification." For information on Senator Roberts's objections, see "Destroying C.I.A. Tapes Wasn't Opposed, Memos Say," by Scott Shane, The New York Times, dated February 22, 2010. The Committee has no independent record of this briefing.

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¶C F S [Redacted] N F ) Throughout 2003, the CIA refused to answer questions from Committee members and staff about the CIA interrogations of KSM and other CIA detainees.²⁴⁶⁴²⁴⁶⁴ Transcript of CIA briefing for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, March 5, 2003 (DTS #2003-1156); Transcript of "Intelligence Update," April 30, 2003 (DTS #2003-2174); Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence briefing, September 3,2003 (DTS #2004-0288); email from: [Redacted] t o : [REDACTED]; subject: Re: EYES ONLY Re: Question Regarding Interrogations from SSCI Member Briefing on KSM Capture; date: March 17, 2003.Show full note The CIA produced talking points for a September 4, 2003, briefing on the CIA interrogation program exclusively for Committee leadership; however, there are no contemporaneous records of the briefing taking place. The CIA talking points include information about the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques, their effectiveness, and various abuses that occurred in the program.²⁴⁶⁵²⁴⁶⁵ CIA Interrogation Program: DDO Talking Points, 04 September 2003. Many of the CIA representations in the talking points were inaccurate.²⁴⁶⁶²⁴⁶⁶ p o r example, the talking points included inaccurate data on die waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah and KSM; stated that two unauthorized techniques were used with a detainee, whereas 'Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was subjected to numerous unauthorized techniques; and inaccurately stated that the offending officers were removed from the site. The talking points also stated that the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques "has produced significant results," and that the "[information acquired has saved countless lives...." See CIA Interrogation Program: DDO Talking Points, 04 September 2003.Show full note The CIA continued to withhold from the Committee, including its leadership, any information on the location of the CIA's detention facilities. On more than one occasion the CIA directed CIA personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, not to brief a visiting Committee member about the CIA detention facility there, including during a July 2005 visit by Chairman Roberts.²⁴⁶⁷²⁴⁶⁷ Because the Committee was not informed of the CIA detention site at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, no member of the Committee was aware that the U.S. Supreme Court decision to grant certiorari in the case of Rasul v. Bush, which related to the habeas corpus rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, resulted in the transfer of CIA detainees from the CIA detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to other CIA detention facilities. See HEADQUARTERS [Redacted] [Redacted] subject "RESTRICTED ACCESS TO [DETENTION SITE COBALT] AND [DETENTION SITE ORANGE]"; email from: [Redacted] t o [Redacted] cc: Jose Rodriguez, [ R E D A C T [Redacted] [ R E D A C T E [Redacted] D A C T E D r [ R E D A C T E D ] ; subject: guidance to [Redacted]tmoTdate~May 14,2004; forwarding final cable: HEADQUARTERS [Redacted] (141502Z MAY 04), subject "Possible Brief to US Senator"; email from: Stanley Moskowitz; to: [REDACTED]; cc: [REDACTED]; subject: Re: guidance t o [Redacted] t m o ; date: May 14, 2004; CIA responses to Questions for the Record, March 13, 2008 (DTS #2008-1310); "CODEL Roberts to Miami/Guantanamo, 7-8 July 2005," dated 5 July, [Redacted] 902860.Show full note

¶In 2004, the Committee conducted two hearings on the CIA's role in interrogating U.S. military detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. CIA witnesses stressed that the CIA was more limited in its interrogation authorities than the Department of Defense, but declined to respond to Committee questions about the interrogation of KSM or press reports on CIA detention facilities.²⁴⁶⁸²⁴⁶⁸ Transcript of hearing, May 12, 2004 (DTS #2004-2332); Transcript of hearing, September 13,2004 (DTS #2005-0750). During the first briefing, on May 12, 2004, Committee members requested Department of Justice memoranda addressing the legality of CIA interrogations.

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¶Despite repeated subsequent requests, limited access to the memoranda was not granted until four years later, in June 2008, by which time the CIA was no longer detaining individuals.²⁴⁶⁹²⁴⁶⁹ Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, May 12, 2004 (DTS #2004-2332). Muhammad Rahim, the CIA's last detainee, was transferred to U.S. military custody on March 13, 2008. See [Redacted] 3445 [Redacted] 19754 [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] 8405 [Redacted] [Redacted]

¶While the CIA continued to brief the Committee leadership on aspects of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, there are no transcripts of these briefings. One briefing, on July 15, 2004, discussed the detention of Janat Gul.²⁴⁷⁰²⁴⁷⁰ Handwritten notes of SSCI Minority Staff Director Andrew Johnson (DTS #2009-2077); CIA notes (DTS #2009-2024, pp. 92-95); CIA notes (DTS #2009-2024, pp. 110-121). An email from [Redacted] T C Legal stated that the "only reason" the chairman and vice chairman were informed of the detention of Janat Gul was that the notification could serve as "the vehicle for briefing the committees on our need for renewed legal and policy support" for the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program.²⁴⁷¹²⁴⁷¹ Email from: [Redacted] to: [REDACTED1; subject: Re: Priority: congressional notification on Janat Gul; date: July 29, 2004. At the July 2004 briefing, the minority staff director requested full Committee briefings and expanded Committee oversight, including visits to CIA detention sites and interviews with interrogators—efforts that had been sought by former Chairman Graham years earlier. This request was denied.²⁴⁷²²⁴⁷² Handwritten notes of SSCI Minority Staff Director Andrew Johnson (DTS #2009-2077); CIA notes (DTS #2009-2024, pp. 92-95); CIA notes (DTS #2009-2024, pp. 110-121).