Interrogation Memo to be Debated

The use of harsh interrogation tactics by CIA officials could be set for debate again after a federal judge in New York announced plans to review next week one of the Bush administration's most controversial legal opinions related to detainee interrogations, The Post's Dan Eggen reports today.

The 2002 memo on specific CIA interrogation techniques, which was accompanied by an already-released and disavowed government document that defines torture, will be reviewed on Monday by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York. He said he wants to see if the still-classified document has appropriately been withheld from the public

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Bush administration under the Freedom of Information Act seeking records related to the use of such interrogation tactics.

The already released document focuses on interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, that were deemed legal by the CIA, according to court documents and intelligence officials. In December, the CIA admitted to destroying video recordings from 2002 of harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said in February that Justice Department lawyers found that the agency's use of waterboarding was legal and, thus, would not investigate whether a crime had been committed.

By The Editors |  May 9, 2008; 2:18 PM ET CIA
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