Will Senator Burr's Attempt To Bury CIA Torture Report Actually Make It More Likely The Report Leaks?
from the action,-reaction dept
We already wrote about how Senator Richard Burr has demanded that the White House return all copies of the full, unredacted CIA Torture Report, which Senator Dianne Feinstein distributed to various department heads last month. As we noted in our article, this seemed like an effort to stuff the full report down the memory hole to make sure that no one could ever do anything with it at all and to make it more difficult to access in a series of FOIA lawsuits. Those lawsuits are demanding the report, as well as the internal Panetta Review that is supposedly the smoking gun, involving an internal CIA analysis that mostly agrees with the Senate Intelligence Committee's analysis in the full report.Reporter Jason Leopold of Vice News (and one of the people suing the government, under FOIA, for the documents) has some more details about Burr's action, including a copies of the letter [pdf] Burr sent the White House, and the letter that Feinstein sent in reply. As Leopold notes, Burr's decision seems specifically designed to try to do a legal two-step to make the document immune from FOIA lawsuits:
By advising the White House to cease entering the full torture report into an executive branch system of records, Burr is saying that the document is a "congressional record," which is exempt from FOIA, as opposed to an "agency record," which is subject to the provisions of the law.Feinstein's response shows that she disagrees, and that the report can properly be handed over to the Executive Branch. The reason for the letter, obviously, is for it to be used in killing off the FOIA attempts, and the DOJ wasted no time in making just that argument:
Tonight, the government filed a response in our long-running lawsuit and asked a judge to dismiss our case. A CIA lawyer said in a 31-page declaration that the redactions in the executive summary were justified and the Panetta Review is properly classified and should not be released. The government also responded to the ACLU's FOIA lawsuit for the full torture report. The government said the full torture report is not an agency record subject to FOIA, it is a congressional record. The government cited Burr's letter to support its case.You can see that filing here [pdf], with this being the relevant portion:
Congress retains control over the Full Report for at least five reasons. First, the conditions under which the report was created reflect that SSCI as a whole asserted complete control over not only drafts, but also the final product. Second, throughout the years-long process of creating and finalizing the Report, both SSCI and the CIA handled the Report in accordance with SSCI’s instructions and strict limitations on access. Third, SSCI voted, in accordance with Senate Rules, to seek declassification and release only of the Executive Summary, Findings and Conclusions – not the Full Report. The then-SSCI Chairman’s decision to provide the Full Report to certain Executive Branch agencies for nonpublic use does not amount to a Committee decision to seek to declassify and release the Full Report. Fourth, the current Chairman of SSCI has reiterated SSCI’s intent to retain control of the Full Report. Finally, the defendant agencies have treated the Full Report, received in December 2014, as a congressional record, sequestering it in secure storage space appropriate to its classification and carefully limiting its dissemination and use. Because the Full Report remains a congressional record as opposed to an agency record, this Court lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ FOIA claim seeking its release, and plaintiffs’ claim should be dismissed under Rule 12(h)(3) or 12(b)(1).2This is not all that unexpected, even if it's fairly ridiculous. However, it's possible that the whole thing could backfire badly. Feinstein knew what she was doing in distributing the report to a number of people within the administration. While all of whom have access to it have the proper clearance, at least some have to agree that this report is an important historical document, detailing incredible misdeeds by the CIA -- and some of them may view it as important to have that information shared with the public to make sure such events never happen again.
Senator Burr's rather obvious move here to demand all copies be "returned" is seen by many as an attempt to bury the report entirely. As Senator Ron Wyden points out, returning the report would "aid defenders of torture who are seeking to cover up the facts and rewrite the historical record." Given that, it seems more likely that at least someone with access to the document is going to realize that this important review of history is at risk of being shredded. Hopefully there is someone in the government with the courage to stand up and get a copy out to reporters in some manner or another, before Burr has a chance to succeed in wiping it off the face of the earth.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: cia, cia torture report, congress, dianne feinstein, doj, foia, jason leopold, leaks, richard burr, senate, senate intelligence committee, whistleblowing
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Sure it could put some specific people in danger [...]
Even if this is true, who cares? People are in danger EVERY DAMN DAY because of lies. 5,000+ Americans are dead in Iraq and Afghanistan because of lies. (Add to that a huge number of Iraqis and Afghans, an awful lot of whom had no reason to die.) If someone is placed in danger because of the truth, so be it. We can't run a functional society if we allow nebulous fear to silence us.
The person who should put this report out there is the President, because he's best-positioned to endure the ensuing firestorm from those who've committed war crimes and those who support them. It's called leadership. It's called duty. It's called responsibility.
Do it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Remember Valorie Plame
There is no honor in Washington, and those who endorsed or even condoned torture as it was becoming an institutionalized program should be made examples for the future generations.
The torture report, and all torture related documents should be released to the world.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Remember Valorie Plame
Beyond the condoning of torture and the torture itself, that is the most disturbing aspect of this entire treacherous ordeal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Remember Valorie Plame
The Most Transparent Administration In American History has quite plainly declared war on anyone who would dare to expose their crimes and I'm certain that the CIA would drop all of its other clandestine legal and criminal operations to put its full weight behind the identification and capture of anyone daring enough to drop the Torture Report on some brave media outlet for global exposure.
I think too that you will find that the forces of legalized public exploitation and liquidation, otherwise known as the USG, will be attacking any media or journalist who receives the Torture Report from a whistleblower, with all guns blazing and "damn the legality" painted on their attack dogs' chests.
Personally, I find the increasing similarities in behaviour and tactics between the USG and the MAFIA to be far more than simple coincidence.
---
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nuremberg
And their sentencing and fate would also be left to the EU. Granted it would probably be kinder and gentler when what we do to such people.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Hell, I'm still waiting for someone to acknowledge that pumping hummus and pasta up a person's ass might not be a routine medical procedure.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
CIA and their defenders were bound to push back - and they're winning.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just think
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wishful thinking
You read the Cc?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Might I suggest
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]