CIA rejects Cheney declassification request
The CIA has rejected Dick Cheney's request to release classified information on interrogations -- info he believed would prove waterboarding and other techniques were effective in extracting information from terror detainees.
The reason: The docs are the subject of pending litigation -- a reference to lawsuits filed by detainees.
The agency's statement:
The process for Mandatory Declassification Review is governed by Executive Order 12958, as amended. That Order excludes from review information that is the subject of pending litigation. The two documents that former Vice President Cheney sought contain information that falls into that category.”
“For that reason—and that reason only—CIA did not accept Mr. Cheney’s request for a Mandatory Declassification Review. The Agency simply followed the Executive Order. This request was handled in accordance with normal practice by CIA professionals with long experience in information management and release. It was for them a straightforward issue.”
[The letter to Cheney is after the jump.]
» Continue reading CIA rejects Cheney declassification request
Mr. Stephannie Oriabure, Archivist
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20408-0001
Reference: EOM-2009-00573 / NLMS 2009-001 (Cheney, Richard B.)
Dear Ms. Oriabure:
Your facsimile of 21 April 2009 referred one document to this agency responding to the referenced Executive Order 12958 Mandatory Declassification Review request. I have enclosed a copy of your correspondence at Tab A.
As you are aware, a request for Mandatory Declassification Review is governed by Executive Order 12958, as amended, which was signed and executed by the President on March 25, 2003. Under section 3.5.(a)(3) of that Executive Order, a document is excluded from Mandatory Declassification Review if that document contains information that is the subject of pending litigation. This provision ensures that the Mandatory Declassification Review process is not used to disrupt simultaneous litigation proceedings that are already pending. In researching the information in question, we have discovered that it is currently the subject of pending FOIA litigation (Bloche v. Department of Defense, Amnesty International v. Central Intelligence Agency). Therefore, the requested document, which contains this information, is excluded from Mandatory Declassification Review.
The requester may appeal my decision to the Agency Release Panel, in my care, within 45 days from the date of this letter. He may send his appeal to:
Agency Release Panel
c/o Information and Privacy Coordinator
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505.
Sincerely,
// s //
Delores M. Nelson
Information and Privacy Coordinator
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