The Senate intelligence committee voted 11-3 on Thursday to declassify significant pieces of an investigation into torture methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency against prisoners suspected of terrorism.
The report runs 6,300 pages; it is said to uncover CIA extralegal detentions and torture techniques used on suspected terrorists during President George W. Bush's administration. It also alleges that abusive interrogations did not lead to useful intelligence, and that the CIA lied to Congress and the President about the interrogation program's effectiveness.
See also: No Proof CIA Torture Program Led to bin Laden, Senate Report Says
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.), the committee chair who has led the charge to release the report, said she was shocked by what the investigation uncovered.
"The report exposes brutality that stands in stark contrast to our values as a nation," Feinstein said in a statement. "It chronicles a stain on our history that must never again be allowed to happen."
While Feinstein hopes that the whole report will be released in the long run, the initial rollout will feature the executive summary, findings, conclusions and contrarian opinions.
The CIA believes the report is riddled with factual errors, as does the committee's vice chairman, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). He voted in favor of releasing the report, but only so Americans could judge the findings for themselves.
“While I agree with some of the conclusions in this report, I take strong exception to the notion that the CIA’s detention and interrogation program did not provide intelligence that was helpful in disrupting terrorist attacks or tracking down Osama bin Laden," Chambliss said in a statement. "This claim contradicts the factual record and is just flat wrong."
Other senators who voted in favor of the release have chastised investigators for not interviewing CIA agents or Republican committee members, according to The Guardian.
The vote comes at a time when tensions are running high between the CIA and the Senate. In early March, Feinstein accused the CIA of spying on staffers who were compiling this report. The CIA has called the charge bogus, and has alleged that some of the committee's results came from documents it stole from the agency.
The California senator hopes the first portions of the report will be available to the public within 30 days.
"It is now abundantly clear that, in an effort to prevent further terrorist attacks after 9/11 and bring those responsible to justice, the CIA made serious mistakes that haunt us to this day," Feinstein said.
"We are acknowledging those mistakes, and we have a continuing responsibility to make sure nothing like this ever occurs again."
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