CIA declassifies memo clearing Haspel of responsibility for destroying evidence
By Karoun Demirjian April 20 at 8:09 PM
The Central Intelligence Agency took the unusual step Friday of declassifying and releasing a memo clearing Gina Haspel of any wrongdoing in drafting an order to destroy videotaped evidence of brutal interrogation techniques, a move that comes as part of a greater campaign to rehabilitate her image and shore up congressional support for her bid to become the agency’s director.
The memo, which former CIA deputy director Michael Morell wrote in 2011, is the result of a disciplinary review in which he “found no fault with the performance of Ms. Haspel” — primarily because she drafted the cable “on the direct orders” of her superior and did not release it herself.
“It was not her decision to destroy the tapes,” Morell wrote in the declassified document, which the CIA released Friday in response to requests from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But senators clamoring for the CIA to declassify documents related to Haspel’s record on techniques often referred to as torture and the order to destroy evidence were angered by what they saw as a “selective” response to their demands.
“It’s completely unacceptable for the CIA to declassify only material that’s favorable to Gina Haspel, while at the same time stonewalling our efforts to declassify all documents related her involvement in the torture program,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement, responding to the release of the redacted memorandum. “The CIA has not been forthcoming .?.?. senators and the public need to know more about her record.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/cia-declassifies-memo-clearing-haspel-of-responsibility-for-destroying-evidence/2018/04/20/a79e9bfc-44de-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html
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