G. Full Committee First Briefed on the CIA's Interrogation Program Hours Before It Is Publicly Acknowledged on September 6, 2006

¶On September 6, 2006, President Bush publicly acknowledged the CIA program and the transfer of 14 CIA detainees to U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hours prior to the announcement, CIA Director Hayden provided the first briefing on the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program for all members of the Committee, although the CIA limited staff attendance to the Committee's two staff directors.²⁵⁰²²⁵⁰² Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence briefing, September 6, 2006 (DTS #2007-1336). Due to the impending public acknowledgment of the program, the briefing was abbreviated. At the briefing, the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were listed, but not described. Director Hayden stated that the techniques were developed at the Department of Defense SERE school and were "used against American service personnel during their training." He testified that "once [a detainee] gets into the situation of sustained cooperation," debriefings are "not significantly different than what you and I are doing right now." Hayden sought "legislative assistance" in interpreting Common Article 3, stated that he had not asked for an opinion from the Department of Justice, and represented that he had been informed informally that seven interrogation techniques "are viewed by the Department of Justice to be consistent with the requirements of the Detainee Treatment Act."²⁵⁰³²⁵⁰³ As described above, the CIA had sought the Department of Justice's opinion on the application of the Detainee Treatment Act to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. The draft memorandum was withdrawn after the U.S. Supreme Court case in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Director Hayden declined to identify the locations of the CIA's detention facilities to the members and stated that he personally had recommended not expanding Committee staff access beyond the two staff directors already briefed on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program.²⁵⁰⁴²⁵⁰⁴ Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence briefing, September 6, 2006 (DTS #2007-1336). The transcript includes the following exchange: Senator Feingold: ".. .you make it tougher on me and the members of the Committee by the decision to not allow staff access to a briefing like this. Was it your recommendation to deny staff access to this hearing?" CIA Director Hayden: "It was."

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¶There were no other Committee briefings or hearings on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program prior to the Senate's September 28, 2006, vote on the Military Commissions Act. As described, the Department of Justice later concluded that the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were consistent with the Military Commissions Act in part because, according to the CIA, "none of the Members [briefed on the CIA program] expressed the view that the CIA interrogation program should be stopped, or that the techniques at issue were inappropriate."²⁵⁰⁵²⁵⁰⁵ Memorandum for John A. Rizzo, Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Steven G. Bradbury, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, July 20, 2007, Re: Application of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to Certain Techniques that May be Used by the CIA in the Interrogation of High Value Al Qaeda Detainees (DTS #2009-1810, Tab 14).Show full note However, prior to the vote, Senator McCain—who had been briefed on the CIA program—told CIA officials that he could not support the program and that sleep deprivation, one of the interrogation techniques still included in the program, as well as waterboarding, were torture.²⁵⁰⁶²⁵⁰⁶ Email from: [Redacted] J [Redacted] cc: [Redacted] [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [ R E D A C T E D [Redacted] E D A C T E D ] , [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED]; subject: Briefing for Senator John S. McCain (R-AZ); date: September 11, 2006, at 5:51 PM. Members of the Committee also expressed their views in classified letters to the CIA. Senator Dianne Feinstein informed the CIA that Hayden's testimony on the CIA program was "extraordinarily problematic" and that she was "unable to understand why the CIA needs to maintain this program."²⁵⁰⁷²⁵⁰⁷ Letter from Senator Feinstein to Director Hayden, September 27, 2006 (DTS #2006-3717). In May 2007, shortly after additional Committee staff gained access to the program, Senator Russ Feingold expressed his opposition to the program, while Senators Feinstein, Ron Wyden, and Chuck Hagel described their concerns about the CIA program and their "deep discomfort" with the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques.²⁵⁰⁸²⁵⁰⁸ Letter from Senator Feingold to Director Hayden, May 1, 2007 (DTS #2007-1858); Letter from Senators Feinstein, Wyden and Hagel to Director Hayden, May 11, 2007 (DTS #2007-2102).

¶(TS/zHH^BW [Redacted] On November 16, 2006, CIA Director Hayden briefed the

¶2509 Committee. The briefing included inaccurate information, including on the CIA's use of dietary manipulation and nudity, as well as the effects of sleep deprivation.²⁵¹⁰²⁵¹⁰ Director Hayden testified that detainees were never provided fewer than 1,000 calories a day. This is inaccurate. There were no calorie requirements until May 2004, and draft OMS guidelines from March 2003 indicated that "[b]rief periods in which food is withheld (1-2 days), as an adjunct to interrogations are acceptable." (See OMS GUIDELINES ON MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT TO DETAINEE RENDITION, INTERROGATION, AND DETENTION, May 17,2004; OMS Guidelines on Medical and Psychological Support to Detainee Interrogations, First Draft, March 7, 2003.) Director Hayden testified that detainees were "not paraded [nude] in front of anyone," whereas a CIA interrogator told the inspector general that nude detainees were "kepHn a center area outside the interrogation room," and were '"walked around' hy guards." (See Interview Report, [Redacted] [Redacted]Show full note Before speaking about the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques, however, Director Hayden asked to brief the Committee on the recent capture of the CIA's newest detainee, Abdul Hadi al-lraqi, who was not subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. Vice Chairman Rockefeller and two other members of the Committee expressed frustration at the briefing that Director Hayden's description of Hadi al-Iraqi's capture was preventing what was expected to be an in-depth discussion of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques.²⁵¹¹²⁵¹¹ Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, November 16, 2006 (DTS #2007-1422).

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¶On February 14, 2007, during a hearing on CIA renditions, Director Hayden provided inaccurate information to the Committee, to include inaccurate information on the number of detainees held by the CIA. [Redacted] the deputy chief of the [Redacted] Department in CTC and the previous deputy chief of ALEC Station, provided examples of information obtained from the CIA Detention and Interrogation Program.²⁵¹²²⁵¹² This testimony included inaccurate information. For example, [Redacted] testified that KSM "identified sleeper cells inside the U.S., [and] the information allowed the FBI to identify that and take action." She further testified that KSM "identified the second wave of attacks against the U.S. that were planned after 9/11," that Abu Zubaydah "really pointed us towards [KSM] and how to find him," and that Abu Zubaydah "led us to Ramzi bin al-Shibh." See transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, February 14, 2007 (DTS #2007-1337). Additional information on the testimony is included in the full Committee Study.Show full note After providing the examples, [Redacted] closed her testimony with the statement that "[tjhere's no question, in my mind, that having that detainee information has saved hundreds, conservatively speaking, of American lives."²⁵¹³²⁵¹³ Transcript of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, February 14, 2007 (DTS #2007-1337).

¶On March 15, 2007, in a speech to a gathering of ambassadors to the United States from the countries of the European Union, Director Hayden stated that congressional support for the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program assured the continuity of the program:

"I mentioned earlier that it would be unwise to assume that there will be a dramatic change in the American approach to the war on terror in 2009. CIA got the legislation it needed to continue this program in the Military Commissions Act passed by our Congress last fall. And let me remind you that every member of our intelligence committees, House and Senate, Republican and Democrat, is now fully briefed on the detention and interrogation program. This is not CIA's program. This is not the President's program. This is America's program."²⁵¹⁴²⁵¹⁴ DIRECTOR [Redacted] (152227Z MAR 07) IIII 11111 [Redacted] " 1 " ' ! I

¶[Redacted] April 14, 2003.) [Redacted] testified that standing sleep deprivation is discontinued when swelling or "any abnormality" appears. This was inaccurate. For example, KSM's standing sleep deprivation continued, notwithstanding pedal edema and abrasions on his ankles, shins and wrists, as well as the back of his head. (See [Redacted] 10916 (210845Z MAR 03); [Redacted] 10909 (201918Z MAR 03).) Director Hayden testified that "mental conditions that would be of normal concern do not present themselves until a person has experienced more dian 100 hours of sleep deprivation," however at least three detainees experienced hallucinations after being subjected to fewer than 96 hours of sleep deprivation. [Redacted] 1393 (201006Z OCT 03); [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted] [Redacted]

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