Mark Udall's Open To Releasing CIA Torture Report Himself If Agreement Isn't Reached Over Redactions

from the putting-the-pressure-on dept

Fri, Nov 14th 2014 12:24pm — Mike Masnick

As we were worried might happen, Senator Mark Udall lost his re-election campaign in Colorado, meaning that one of the few Senators who vocally pushed back against the surveillance state is about to leave the Senate. However, Trevor Timm pointed out that, now that there was effectively "nothing to lose," Udall could go out with a bang and release the Senate Intelligence Committee's CIA torture report. The release of some of that report (a redacted version of the 400+ page "executive summary" -- the full report is well over 6,000 pages) has been in limbo for months since the Senate Intelligence Committee agreed to declassify it months ago. The CIA and the White House have been dragging out the process hoping to redact some of the most relevant info -- perhaps hoping that a new, Republican-controlled Senate would just bury the report.

The arguments for not leaking the report -- or just putting it into the Congressional record -- is not a legal one. Members of Congress are allowed to put whatever they want in the Congressional record without fear of legal repercussions. However, it could lead to other problems, including being kicked off of the Intelligence Committee, which would have led to less ability to oversee what was going on in the future. But since he's leaving anyway... As Timm notes:

But Udall’s loss doesn’t have to be all bad. The lame-duck transparency advocate now has a rare opportunity to truly show his principles in the final two months of his Senate career and finally expose, in great detail, the secret government wrongdoing he’s been criticizing for years. On his way out the door, Udall can use congressional immunity provided to him by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate clause to read the Senate’s still-classified 6,000-page CIA torture report into the Congressional record – on the floor, on TV, for the world to see.

There’s ample precedent for this. In 1971, former Senator Mike Gravel famously read the top-secret classified Pentagon Papers for three hours before almost collapsing and then entering thousands of pages more into the record after he couldn’t speak for any longer from exhaustion.

In fact, Gravel is now urging Udall to do exactly that, in an interview he gave to Dan Froomkin.

“If Udall wanted to do this, he could do the same thing.” Gravel said. “Hell, I’d fly into Washington and help him pass it out.”

If it’s more convenient, Gravel said, he’ll be in Udall’s home state of Colorado in a couple weeks. “If he wants to, we can get together over Thanksgiving weekend, and talk this thing out so he feels comfortable.”

The two biggest reasons not to do it, Gravel said, are no longer relevant. “The biggest fear you have is peer pressure. What are my members of the Senate going to think of me? But I’ve got to say, if you lose office, like he has, he’s got no more peer pressure.”

Udall himself had been rather quiet about all of this over the past few weeks, but has now told the Denver Post that all options are on the table, but he's still hopeful that a deal may be reached.

“I’m going to keep all options on the table to ensure the truth comes out,”

In an odd way, his loss may actually put extra pressure on the CIA to agree to fix the retraction problem, since they now know that Udall can just go around them entirely. Suddenly, the "fallback" position isn't such a good situation. In the past, the CIA could stall under the likelihood that no one could really do much about it. But that calculus has changed, meaning that the CIA no longer has the upper hand here. Still, it would be something if Udall decides that the only way to get this info out is to put it out himself, in part, because he could release a lot more than just the executive summary. Who knows if he'd go that far, but it's good to hear that he's at least open to the option.

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Filed Under: cia, mark udall, privilege, torture report

30 Comments

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pixelpusher220 (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:32pm

GOP freak out in 3...2...
oh wait.

But seriously, incoming rants of treason seem likely...
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Mackenzie B, 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:36pm

Do it!!!!!
Please. For the love of all. DO IT!!!!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:39pm

Do eeet
#YOLO
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:49pm

Just Do It, Udall!

Do eeeet!

Do it!!

Come on, Udall, do it!

Release the kraken, Udall!

Do it, Udall!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:52pm

Tragic news
It will be sad when we find out he was in a fatal accident of some kind and was never able to release the documents as intended. No one will ever suspect he was killed of course. Who would suspect such a fine upstanding country to kill people without legal due process.
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AricTheRed (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 12:56pm

I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
• I had clearly and openly called out the spineless bastids on the Senate Intelligence Committee (not that any weree in attendance)when the 19yr olde intern said...

19 yr olde self-important intern- "The senator is very upset that the CIA and the White House refuse to release the executive summary"

AricTheRed- "Bullshit! If "The Senator" had any interest in upholding her oath "to support and defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic" she would read the whole fucking report during debate of some BS bill that they are going to ram through, like the farm bill, and make it a matter of record and tell everyone who thought that that was akin to providing "Material Support" to terrorists to go PATRIOT ACT themselves to death!"

19 yr olde self-important intern- "That is an interesting idea, I'll have to tell the senator."

Self-important-AricTheRed- "You should do that and then hold your breath until she does it."
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 1:01pm

Cast it into the congressional record Udall! Release it!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 1:10pm

Why stop with the torture report? Read in the 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report detailing foreign involvement
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 1:12pm

Re: Tragic news
It wasn't U.S., it was some rogue drone!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 2:03pm

The CIA has always figured if it could keep the proof, even though someone the incidents are known, they would never have Geneva hollering for heads in Crimes Against Humanity on individuals.

Now all the plotting looks to be the smoke it is. Someone is just short of having a heart attack even at the mention he might do this. I would suspect nothing will happen to Udall until several years after this is blown over. Then there will be this tragic accident no one can prove otherwise on.

It's gone far enough that I have little doubt such could happen.
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tracyanne (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 2:11pm

my prediction
Won't happen.

I hope I'm wrong.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 2:43pm

Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
And then after hanging up the phone, 19 yr olde self-important intern went back to facebooking and tweeting with friends.
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AricTheRed (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 2:49pm

Re: Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
Not that simple. She was sitting next to me, for a 1hr long ferry ride, against the window, which was not an emergeny exit, at a booth with four other folks that were interested in what "The Senator" thought.

Nice try however.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 2:53pm

And the truth will make you free...
Home of the brave I have no doubt, land of the free?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 3:26pm

Re: Re: Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
Ha! that's far closer than I've ever gotten to successfully communicating my opinions to Feinstein - NICE!

Usually I get the canned responses...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 3:28pm

Re: Re: Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
Also, out of curiosity, how did you end up finding out she was an intern for Feinstein in the first place?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 3:46pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
I used to work as an interrogator, my natural method of conversation follows that farmiliar pattern.

Plus people love to talk about themselves (as a rule) so I just asked a bunch of questions about her and eventually asked what she was doing commuting to and fro on the ferry to San Francisco. And she was proud to state that she was working as an unpaid intern for a part of the axis of evil (Commentary added by author).
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AricTheRed (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 3:47pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: I had this same conversation with one of Feinstein's interns...
Dang forgot to sign in...
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Rekrul, 14 Nov 2014 @ 5:22pm

Never going to happen. You'll see flying pigs before anyone in the current government will release anything that will make anyone look bad, no matter how much they might claim to oppose the current state of affairs.
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beltorak (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 6:07pm

can we please also get the first-redacted version so we know exactly what those fuckers want to hide??
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That One Guy (profile), 14 Nov 2014 @ 7:14pm

Now that he doesn't have to worry about being kicked off the Intelligence Committee, seems it's reached the point where we all get to see just how serious his objections to the USG's involvement in torture and attempted coverups of it are.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2014 @ 7:41pm

Kennedy-Warren report
Can he release the Kennedy-Warren report?

Semper CIA!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Nov 2014 @ 6:13am

How?
I doubt he can read the entire 6000- something page report, they'll be there all week, if not longer.
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Blackfiredragon13 (profile), 15 Nov 2014 @ 6:14am

Re: How?
Damn it forgot to sign in.
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Rekrul, 15 Nov 2014 @ 8:19am

Re:
Now that he doesn't have to worry about being kicked off the Intelligence Committee, seems it's reached the point where we all get to see just how serious his objections to the USG's involvement in torture and attempted coverups of it are.

Not serious enough to actually release the report.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Nov 2014 @ 1:31pm

Re: GOP freak out in 3...2...
Might the same people who freak out charge him? After all, they seem to disrespect lots of other laws
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wileycoyote, 16 Nov 2014 @ 1:11pm

Something wicked this way comes
"As we were worried might happen, Senator Mark Udall lost his re-election campaign in Colorado"

That's funny because there weren't many people out here all that concerned about Udall losing after he ran a terrible campaign. Frankly, he didn't seem to be working at it very hard.

It would great to see a DefCon 1 level of panic inside the beltway if he did release the unredacted report but the down side is there might actually be real names and locations in it of people who don't need to be fingered.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Nov 2014 @ 4:48am

This is where the rubber meets the road
So will he do it or is he a liar like the Pres? Guess we will find out in the next couple months. Want to know which I think he is?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Nov 2014 @ 6:08am

Re: Do it!!!!!
Do it, enough of the freaking secrecy
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Nov 2014 @ 6:21am

Its not just about one document..........its about them ALL.........but this is a start

Enough of the "ive got something to hide and i am NOT a person" secrecy

YES, 100%, something BIG needs to change, and if there are folks out there thinking thats to much, well yes, because its BIG, and you've been conditioned to think that secrecy from those in power is for some delusioned reason, a good thing

Our governments/corporations shouldnt be participating in something they cant publicly disclose............throw out, greed in monotization or social influence/power

The rich get richer, the REAL bad guys get badder

Rant terminated
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