Talking Points for SSCI Torture Report Release

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has released a declassified portion of their report on interrogation, rendition, and detention methods used by the CIA.

Earlier this year, the Committee voted overwhelmingly to send the report to the Executive Branch for declassification and release the report, which details the history of this program and examines the intelligence value that many claimed justified use of these techniques.

Below, for your consideration, are talking points on the key issues surrounding the report’s release.

Suggested Talking Points:

• The use of torture is wrong and is not a U.S. value or official policy. President Obama made this clear in 2009 when he publicly acknowledged the U.S. used techniques that “crossed a line”, saying “We tortured some folks".¹
• Senator Feinstein, who has always been a strong defender of the intelligence agencies, has produced a thorough and independent account of what happened in the interrogation, detention, and rendition programs of the United States.
• The use of these techniques was a dark part of America’s past, but in no way should they be used going forward. The SSCI report shows that not only were these techniques wrong, but they were not the most effective way to get the intelligence.
• Over the course of the investigation, the CIA’s actions in accessing the SSCI’s private files and referral of the Senate staff to the Department of Justice were a troubling indication of the agencies’ lack of understanding of the importance of independent oversight, and separation of powers.