C06238939 Approved for Release 2011109 11 C06238939 ' 1 4 c OGC-FQ-ZOOJ-50078 5 August 2003 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT Uf AIHQ Revj ew of Inter 0 gation Program on 29 July 2003 1 on 29 July -2003 the DCI and CIA General Counsel atten ded a meeting in the office of National Security Adviser ondoleezza Rice to di scus cur ren t past and future CIA policies anct practices concerning the inte rro gation of certain 'detainees held by CIA in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States and in t h e- Nation's war on terror The meeti ng was an outgrowth of the QCI' 3 July 2003 memorandum to Dr Rice requesting a reaffi rmatio of t he CIA Is policies and practices The rnee ing was at tended by tbe DCI CIA General Counsel Scott w Muller o the Attorney General Acting Assistant Attorney Gene ra l Office of Legal Counsel Patric k Philbin Dr Rice White Ffo se CO'-llisel Alberto Gonzales Cotinsel to the National sec' l t -ty Council NSC John B llinger and the Vice Pres ident s 1 4 c 2 The DCI $tarted the meeting by stating that C IA wanted a 'r e t fi rtnation of its policies and practices 1 in light o f recent White House stat ernents and the resulting media which had ' crek ted the impression that certain previously a thorized in err ation techniques are hot used by us personnel and are no lo ger approved as--a matter of us lie and 2 l ight f t _he_ f _ac_t __ th t the annual review of was in proces$ L------------------- 3 1'si- After he DCI o s introduction ofr Muller distributed to each participant a set of riefing slides entitled CIA InterrogatioO Program 29 July 2003 A copy is attachecl hereto a s '-ttachment A Mr Muller walked tttr'ough the slide s with the group page by page e xplaining oraliy the substance of what was shown on each pa ge E ch page w s d viewed with the exception of pages 16-17 ---------------------- __ _ OOGCOG l 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 1 4 c 3 5 c C06238939 Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 1 4 c sqBJEC I' Revi W of In terrogation Program on 29 July 2003 1 4 c t 4 Nea r the outset of the d i scussion of Leg il Authorities page 2' the Attorney General forcefully reiterated tlie view of l he Department of Justice that the tec hniques b ing emplqyed by CIA were and rema i n lawful and do not violate l ther the -ap i-torture statute OJ us obligations under the Convent ion Against Torture and Other Cruel l nhuman -ahd Degrading Treatment He said tha t he ha d reviewed the I 25 June 20Q J letter to Senatq r Leah y from DoD Qener al Counsel William J HaYnes II and had reviewed with Patrick Philbin the facts rela tfng to ac al CIA interrogations in the past year Having done so he said that CIA practic e s were entirely la ful and that he gr ed with he st tement ' that had been made with respect to th ' e polici s a d l ractices in the HaY1les ietter In the week preceding the eeting Cl A had given 'Phi'lbin Bellinger and GOnzale a 'fu i l br-iefing' on the facts contain d iJl th e slides ah9 in a4vanc - o t the me e ting o Philbin had reviewed all the perti nent f cts w th the Attorney General r the coursE of the ' discussion the Attorney General and P t ' Philbin gave a lengthy xplanation of the law and the applicabl legal principles Their explanatiQn squares compl tely w-ith the unders tandiJ Jg unpei which OIA has oeen Qper ting ' See previous Memoranda fqr the Record by Scott Mul l r A c t o l __Y l _ Co unsel JQhn - ' Ri l zo and o r CTC LG It and rela ted materials 1 4 c _ 5 There 'was a disc ilssi'on of the 27 June 2003 Washing t on Post art i cl reporting that the Admin i stra iQn ad pledged not to se ostress and duresso techniques in interrogating detainees 'l'he Vice President asked how the press couid have got suc h n impression and Muller mentioned both the Presid t s sta ement in February 2002 concerning ' hUmaneo treatment' of det lin e es and the various occasions including 26 June 2003 o'n wpich the -White House press of fice had stated tha t us treatment of detainee was hwnane o Judge GQnzales informed the V ice PresideQt that the President's F bruary 2002 policy is applicabl e only to the Armed For9es Referring to the S'tatemeQts fr oltl the Deputy White House pre s secretary in r sponse to qu stions from the washington Post on the occasion of the PresidePt's 26 June 2QQ3 pro lamation on United Nations International bay in S1 1pport Qf Victims of Torture Beilinger explained that the press officer had gone ofGBP script and had mista enly gort back to ooldo talking p_oints The DCI stated I 0060002 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 3 5 c 3 5 c _ C06238939 Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 I 1bP SE REI 1 4 c SUBJECT Rev i w 10f Interrogation Program on 29 July 2003 that i -t w a iitq lortant for the Wh i te House to cease stating that us Government praotice s were humane- a s that term is easily to susceptible misinterpretation Bellinger u ndertook to insllie that the White Hous e press of fice ceases to make statements on the subject Other than that the US is c ompiy i g with i ts obligations under us law rn or abo u t rch Bellinger had made _a similar conmitment and reported i o the unde r si9ned and to J udge Gonzales that he had inf rrned Press Secretl l ry Ari Fleisc er tqat the White House press office sh uld not sta t e ei't her that the US was corilplyil'lg with the Geneva Conventions-tilh i c are inapplicable--or was treating ali det inees humanely 6 There was a bri f discussiort of the recent letter to Dr Ric from Senator Arlen Specter The Attorney General s trongly advised that the stateme nts in the 25 June 2003 let er to SEmato r Leahy be reaff'irmed Addref Jsing th e purported misinteq re_ta ion of US policy reported in the Washington Post and CIA o s concern that merely rea ffirmi g the Leahy letter in light of the other stat _nts qe on 2 6 June and the reporting could be read as acknowledgement o f the er oneous vielil of A nistra tioti policy reflected in th t report ing t he Attorney General propo that 't he respon e to Senatar Sp cter emphasize that the st atem nts i n the' HaJPYnes- response to ' the Leahy lett e r ere z spon ' es to sp c i t ic lega_ l qu _stions and ad pe carefully and a rowly crafted There was agre en lat this approach prop erly implemented wa app opriate 1 4 c 7 In connection wi h di cussiQ q in the p r i e'f ing s _lides the osaGBPeguards p g s -7 Bell nger expla i ne l tJla t GI ' i t p t a nc1 good fc t it t ere i tant element-s of thf legal an lysis c md that the safeguards were intended to re lect that good fait irt spirit and reality Mr Philbin e q lained at this point that under the Eighth Amenqment it was c r iticcH to look at the purpose of the acts e said tha-t certain Human Rights groups were d ting Eighth -AJ nendment case including pepartment o f Justice briefs and i c a iming that s tress- and duresso techniques violated the Eighth Arriendment pEn' e lie explained that those ca es irtc udirig one involving the shackling Of a prisoner were inapplicable ___ I I I I 3 'POP SDCRfl'f1L_____ r tf6P6RM Xl 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 nl'J 0 O ci U t V - C06238939 SUBJECT o ' A A 1- Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 R eview ciGBP Interrogation P rogram on 29 July 2003 bec ause mong other things they involved wantcm and maliciouso punishment whereas the interrogations at issue were undertaken for very different and legitimate purJ oses 1 4 c 8 pr ice as ked abOut the entry page 7 Infractions remedied two incidents no harm ' ' Sll e asked ' i f there had not bee n a death in connection with the interrogation program r uller stated th t there had been tw9 deaths--both reported to t he I nspector General the Criminal Division and CongresJ --bu that ne i ther had involved the Interrogation r Program i e aut horized iriterx -ogation personnel engaged in or authori zed to engage in interrogations as part of the Interrogation Progr ' or detainees' who were the authorized subject of enhanced techniques 9 -tS M r Muller explained that the senior leaderspip of the InteJ lige ce Comurl ttees bad been briefed The Vice President as ed i f t s included the new leadership and Mr ul ler stated thcJ t it' d id Mr Muller also sta t ed that CIA intended to do anothe r briefing after 'the recess 1 4 c iO In connection w ith age 8 ' I terro ation Methods ' Mr l Muller s tated that the technique lf OSt l ikel y to raise concerns was the waterboard D r Rice asked for a description of the procedure which Mr Muller gave noting that t he Attorpey Q 4a n x -al qpi i 'on authorized administrations of up to 40 secon4s 1 4 c 1 4 c J 11 Mr M uller s rized the materia on pages 9-ii of he brieting slides stating that they showed that the detainees subject to the use of 'Enhanced Techniques ot'c lne Jtind or another had i produced significant inteliigence information that had in the view of' CIA professionals si l ed 1 ives 12 Mr Muller reviewed page 13 of the slides n 0 ing in part1eular that three individuals had been the subject of t h e w terbo rd The Vic e President asked about the t elationship between the co lumn en t i tled osessions o and the column entitled WB o Mf Muller expl'ained Dr Rice commented specific ally oJ i t h e nUinl er o f times that i SM had been W lterboa rded i1 9 r Muller stated his unde standing that a nwnber of the uses had been fo r - l ess tllaz the permitted - 4 0060004 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 C06238939 Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 1 4 c SUBJECT R _view of Interrogation Program on 29 July 2003 40 seconc ls o Patric k J hil bin 'Sta ted that obhe Attorney General opinion au horized rElPe ii ions of the procedure and the Attorney General stated that he was fully aware of the GBPacts and that CIA was well wit h in' the scope of the opinion and authority given to CIA by th t opd rtion The Vice President coll l11 ented on the value of what KSM had provided and noted tl at - nad obvi ous ly been a otough custome ro 1 4 c 1 4 c 1 4 c 1j The DCI stated that it wa i r ant for CIA to Ja low hat it was executing Admini t r t pn polic y and not merely a c t irtg lawfully The Vice President stated and Dr Rice and the Atto General agreed that this was the case Mr Muller stated t -hat t is left the issue of how to deal wi th the annua review process There was a bri f discussion of that process in which John Bellinger stated in response to a que s tion from the Vice President that there was no requirement for a GBPull meeting of the NpC Principals Judge Gonzales stat'ed that he was certain that DoD General Counsel Haynes and b y implication the secreta of Defen e was clearly wal ' of ttle subst Mce of CI ' s _pro gr Q ased on ng Qther tl i n gs th pqo J ev tew of sim ilar techniques and ntunerous d iscu sions Mr Mulle'r and Mr Bellinge agre d At an ea l ier meet ing -o this ubjcct Judge Gon z fes had stated that when the ecpn iql te were first authorized Dr R ice had -discussed tbein with t he - cretacy of Defense After diseussion the Vice President Dr Ric e and the Attorney General agreed with the DCI ' s concurrence that it as not necessary or dv-isab e to have a t'ull Principals Committee meetin to rev i reaffi the Program Instead as part of the process some combination of Dr Rice the Vice President apd or Judge Gonzales W9Uld i fQrm the President that the CIA- as condu cti q interr oa us1n techniques r- t h e A t t o rney General had under us law and ' t 1 4 c 3 5 c Sco't t W Muller _ 5 'l OP S8CRGBP11 f L_____ rMOPOftM fXl 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 C06238939 Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 1 4 c SUBJECT Review of Interrogation Program on 2 9 July 2003 I JU DENDUM 5 August 20 03 rn ci telephone conver satiori on 4 Aq st Mr o Bellinger informed M - M1 1l ler th t Dr Rice wa now of the view that the Secretacy of S tate and the Secretary of Pefense should tie briefecl prior to A s pec if-ic plan 1 4 c wi'l l be proposed in the next few days 3 5 c o p fi 8C f ll' L_ 6 j NOrtORN Xi 1 4 c Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 C06GOOG C06238939 Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 1 o 1 4 c SUBJECT Ee Vi w of Int erroga tion Program on '29 July 2003 3 5 c DCI OGC SWMqller _ _ _____ j 4 ugus t 200 3 s Scott Mul f--et MFR re Int errogatiollS -doc I 3 5 c Distribution igner Orig - GC 1 DC-I 1 - ooc t 1 EX DIR 1 000 1 'D OCA 1 SDGC 1 -1 - 1 -l 3 5 c I I I I t 1 4 c 7 fOP 9E CRE'f1L _ _ __ NOPyfti'i XI Approved for Release 2014 09 11 C06238939 0060007 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu