The Obama administration has turned down former Vice President Dick Cheney’s request for the declassification of two CIA reports on the effectiveness of the Agency’s detainee program, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. A letter dated May 7, 2009, from the CIA’s Information and Privacy Coordinator, Delores M. Nelson, rejected Cheney’s request because the documents he has requested are involved in a Freedom of Information Act court battle.
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White House officials have told reporters and members of Congress that the Cheney memos do not bolster the case for enhanced interrogation, as Cheney has suggested. But they have nonetheless refused to release them. President Obama has the legal authority to declassify the documents “with the wave of his hand,” according to one expert.
source
Curious given that Cheney is beating the Obama administration up over the fact that these memos supposedly show that the enhanced interrogation program was effective. It seems to me that the way to go here is to release them and let the public decide. It's not like we are trying to hide the fact that the interrogations took place. That cat is out of the bag. The only reason I see not to release them is that they bolster Cheney's claims.
politics, cheney
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