Committee to quiz ex-FBI agent on interrogation tactics
Agent is likely to testify that traditional methods are just as effective as enhanced ones.
The Senate Intelligence Committee will call a former FBI special agent to testify who has publicly disputed arguments that harsh interrogation tactics were the only way to get valuable information from a high-value terrorism suspect in 2002.
The testimony from Ali Soufan, who interrogated al-Qaida suspect Abu Zubaydah using traditional methods, is part of the committee's continuing investigation into the CIA's so-called enhanced interrogation program, which critics say amounted to using torture on suspected terrorists.
"The committee intends to interview a number of people as part of our study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program," Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Thursday. "Mr. Soufan has a unique perspective into the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah, and we will ask him to come before us."
It was not clear late Thursday when Soufan would come before the committee, whether the testimony would be given in a public setting or whether he is being subpoenaed.
Soufan was traveling in the Middle East and could not be reached for comment.
In an April 22 New York Times op-ed column, Soufan said Zubaydah provided "important actionable intelligence" under traditional interrogation methods.
"There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics," Soufan said.
Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., said he believes Soufan is mistaken. "While the White House continues to cherry-pick the release of classified documents, all I can say publicly is that many of Soufan's allegations aren't backed up by the facts," Bond said.
A U.S. counterterrorism official who asked to remain anonymous said enhanced interrogation practices were used on Zubaydah only after they were authorized by the Justice Department. According to recently released legal memos, the authorization was given on Aug. 1, 2002.
"Those techniques were used only after rapport-building questioning didn't work and Zubaydah went silent," the official said.
The Intelligence Committee is conducting a high-profile investigation behind the scenes. Senate Democratic leaders have said they want the investigation to be completed before they decide whether any former Bush administration officials should be prosecuted for violating laws with regard to the harsh interrogation program.
The committee probe is not expected to be completed until the fall.
The panel has told the CIA which documents it is seeking as part of its investigation. That includes written records of interrogations that were videotaped, a source said. But the source could not confirm or deny if any videotapes of interrogations exist.
The agency has said it, in turn, has set up a special group to work with the committee.
The committee will investigate the interrogations of all detainees the government considered to be of high value, all of whom had harsh interrogation methods used on them, the source added. A May 2005 Justice Department legal memo put the number of detainees at the time at 94.
The first briefing on the CIA's interrogation program was given to the Senate committee's then-chairman and ranking member in September 2002, the source said. But the source could not confirm or deny whether the chairman and ranking member were told at that time if waterboarding -- the near-drowning of interrogation suspects -- was already being used.