Is CIA Pre-Publication Review Biased?
The Washington Post has an interesting story today announcing that the CIA has opened an internal investigation into its prepublication review process:
The CIA has begun an internal investigation into whether a process designed to screen books by former employees and protect national security secrets is being used in part to censor agency critics, U.S.
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The Washington Post has an interesting story today announcing that the CIA has opened an internal investigation into its prepublication review process:
In particular, the Post reports on the disparate treatment received by Rodriguez's book and that by former FBI agent Ali Soufan:
I have to say that after watching the 9/11 arraignment, I have some sympathy for those who suspect that one is allowed relative freedom to discuss the CIA program only if one is defending it.
At the arraignment, the court security officer blacked out the audio at the mere mention by defense counsel of the CIA program (see pp. 19, 19A, and 20)--about which Rodriguez writes in depth:
The CIA has begun an internal investigation into whether a process designed to screen books by former employees and protect national security secrets is being used in part to censor agency critics, U.S. officials said. The investigation coincides with the publication of a flurry of books from CIA veterans, and it is largely aimed at determining whether some redactions have been politically motivated. Among the publications expected to get particular scrutiny is a memoir by the former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., who used his book, “Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives,” to mount a vigorous defense of interrogation methods that were widely condemned but that he asserts provided critical intelligence about al-Qaeda.
CIA critics said the disparities in the review process are particularly apparent in books that deal with controversial subjects, including the agency’s use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation measures in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A book released last year by former FBI agent Ali Soufan — who questioned al-Qaeda prisoners held by the CIA and has said he became dismayed by the agency’s tactics — was so heavily redacted that he published “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda” with black marks across many of its pages to show readers how much he was forced to withhold. In an interview, Soufan said that his book had been cleared by the FBI, but that the CIA fought to impose changes that included the redaction of comments taken directly from transcripts of public hearings on Capitol Hill. Soufan said he was surprised at how much Rodriguez was allowed to disclose. “Absolutely there are things that he was able to talk about that were redacted from my book,” Soufan said. “I think it has more to do with trying to protect a narrative rather than protecting classified information.” Rodriguez’s book includes detailed accounts of interrogations and other operations while taking veiled swipes at Soufan and others who question the use of harsh interrogation methods.
DC [CAPT SCHWARTZ]: And the issue is just so my client can hear. Right now he is listening on headphones that I have provided. I have removed the court headphones. The reason for that is the torture that my client was subjected to by the men and women wearing the big boy pants down at the CIA it makes it impossible ---- MILITARY JUDGE [COL POHL]: Captain? [The security classification button was pushed by the Court Security Officer at 0945, causing the live audio and video feed to terminate.]When the audio came back on, Judge Pohl lectured defense counsel about raising the subject in public:
MJ [COL POHL]: You know why it went off? DC [CAPT SCHWARTZ]: I don’t, because ---- MJ [COL POHL]: Well, then, let me explain something to you. There is certain material that is not to be disclosed in a public forum unless it has been properly cleared. DC [CAPT SCHWARTZ]: Your Honor, I understand ---- MJ [COL PHOL]: And I don’t want stopping and starting. You're kind of aware of where those lines are. I think you know where they are. If you want to litigate some issue that may raise classified issues, we may or may not close the court for it, but we can't just blurt them out. Clear?It seems to me a fair question why Jose Rodriguez can talk in depth in defense of the program and describe the specific conduct of it, but Ali Soufan cannot, and counsel for the defense at Guantanamo cannot even mention the general subject without getting a lecture from Judge Pohl.
Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.
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