John Byrne
June 10, 2009 - Raw Story
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Former Vice President Dick Cheney isn't out of the woods yet for his role in briefing Congress on the Bush Administration's secretive harsh interrogation program.
In a carefully worded statement to Mother Jones' David Corn for an article Wednesday, a spokesman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein indicated that the conduct of individuals who briefed Congressmembers on the CIA's interrogation program is under review.
"The Senate intelligence committee's study includes an examination of how the committee was briefed on the CIA's detention and interrogation program," Phil LaVelle, a Feinstein spokesperson, was quoted as saying. "This includes briefings of committee leadership, and is not limited by who conducted the briefing."
The Intelligence Committee's probe has been ongoing — quietly — since March.
But "there have been no public hearings," Corn writes. "In fact, Feinstein has made no commitment to hold hearings on this subject or to release a public report when the investigation is completed. The committee said in March that its investigation would take about a year.
"The committee has restricted this part of its review and is not examining briefings provided to other committees–such as the House intelligence committee–according to a congressional source familiar with the probe." he adds. "But given that Cheney briefed two senior members of the Senate intelligence panel, the committee can review what Cheney told Roberts and Rockefeller about the interrogation program and evaluate whether his assertions were supported by the facts. That is, the Cheney briefing is fair game for the Senate investigators.
Feinstein's spokesman declined to comment on whether the committee was investigating the 2005 briefing Cheney gave Senate Intelligence Committee members.
"The committee is not confirming or denying any specific aspects of its inquiry, including the witnesses it has or will be interviewing," Corn avers.
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