The Democrat-led Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's wrongful torture practices is expected to be released sometime next week, just days before the 113th Congress adjourns, but over the weekend, former President George W. Bush joined other former and current officials in rebutting and condemning the report.
The 6,000-page report largely focuses on the years following Sept. 11, 2001, when the CIA used several forms of torture, or "enhanced interrogation techniques," when attempting to extract information from detainees held in various U.S. prisons, and questions the efficacy and legality of those practices.
The report supposedly claims that the CIA misled Bush and his administration about the true extent and results of techniques used, like waterboarding, exposure to cold temperatures, slapping and sleep deprivation - claims which were denied by former intelligence officials, according to The New York Times.
While some former Bush administration officials suggested distancing themselves from the program, Bush and his closest advisors decided they should, according to one former official, "stand behind these guys."
Bush spoke with CNN's Candy Crowley on Sunday and clarified where he stands.
"I'll tell you this," Bush said. "We're fortunate to have men and women who work hard at the CIA serving on our behalf. These are patriots. And whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country it is way off base. I knew the directors, the deputy directors, I knew a lot of the operators. These are good people. Really good people. And we're lucky as a nation to have them."
Others, like former CIA leaders George Tenet and General Michael Hayden, along with two former directors, and John McLaughlin, former deputy CIA director, joined Bush to defend the program, The Times reported.
"Once the release occurs, we'll have things to say and will be making some documents available that bear on the case," McLaughlin said Sunday. He claims that the report "uses information selectively, often distorts to make its points, and as I recall contains no recommendations."
Hayden said in an email sent to The Times on Sunday that they are "not here to defend torture," rather, "We're here to defend history."
Hayden also made a TV appearance Sunday on "Face the Nation" on CBS News to address the report.
"To say that we relentlessly, over an expanded period of time, lied to everyone about a program that wasn't doing any good, that beggars the imagination," he said.
Another former official still close to Bush said allegations of the CIA misleading the former president are "absurd."
"The idea that George Tenet, John McLaughlin, Mike Hayden and Steve Kappes would knowingly mislead the president and the country is absurd," the former official said, according to The Times. "This was not a rogue program. And nobody in our administration is going to throw the CIA over the side on this."
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, predicting "violence and deaths" should the report be released, according to The Washington Times.
"I think this is a terrible idea," Rogers said. "Our foreign partners are telling us this will cause violence and deaths. Foreign leaders who have approached the government say you do this, it will cause violence and deaths. Our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and deaths."
On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry phoned the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and asked that she consider delaying the release of the report. An imminent release, according to Kerry, could complicate relationships with foreign countries at a time when relations are already strained, and could put overseas troops and facilities at risk, according to Bloomberg.
Other lawmakers, like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are calling for the immediate release, and have said that representatives could act unilaterally to release the report should it be delayed further.
"This report must see the light of day before Congress adjourns this year," said Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "And if the Executive Branch isn't willing to cooperate the Senate should be willing to act unilaterally to ensure that happens."
"Americans will be profoundly disturbed and angered when they read it," Wyden continued. "But it's important to get the facts out even if they make people uncomfortable, because that's the only way to prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated. It is the only way to make sure torture never happens again and make America's intelligence agencies stronger in the long run."
