Senator who commissioned torture report live-tweets rebuttal to CIA director

By Fusion Staff | December 11, 2014 | 7:50pm

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Dianne Feinstein is not willing to let the CIA have the last word on torture.

The Twitter account of Feinstein, a Democrat and the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who commissioned an investigation into the CIA’s detention-and-interrogation programs, live-tweeted a rebuttal to CIA Director John Brennan’s press conference on Thursday.

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Brennan’s rare press conference came two days after the release of the Senate committee’s report, which highlighted the CIA’s grisly detention-and-interrogation techniques with terror suspects during the administration of President George W. Bush. The report detailed horrific accounts of rectal feeding, wrongful detention, and exaggerated claims of effectiveness.

Brennan opened his press conference, an unprecedented move from the head of a largely secretive agency, in incredibly defensive posture, evoking the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He said it was clear the agency had failed to hold some officers accountable who had employed techniques that were “abhorrent.” But he said the “overwhelming majority” of the CIA’s officers did “what they were asked to do.”

Brennan said he opposed the release of the report, which he painted as partisan.

Minutes before Brennan was scheduled to open his press conference, Feinstein began her rebuttal. And it continued throughout various points during Brennan’s remarks.

One of the most contentious disputes between the CIA and the Senate committee was whether any of the agency’s “enhanced-interrogation” techniques produced information that led U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden. Brennan said Thursday that the techniques used on some detainees did provide “useful information” for the bin Laden mission. But Feinstein quickly pushed back:

A Feinstein spokesman said her staff was “providing facts via Twitter” that she approved. She was in her office watching the press conference.

Here’s a look at Feinstein’s full rebuttal:

[View the story “Dianne Feinstein’s rebuttal to John Brennan” on Storify]

Brett LoGiurato is the senior national political correspondent at Fusion, where he covers all things 2016. He’ll give you everything you need to know about politics, with a healthy side of puns.