U.S. Rep Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, today released a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta requesting that the CIA’s Memoranda for the Record on the enhanced interrogation program be reviewed for declassification and publicly released.
"The American people should be given the full picture on what was known and agreed to on Capitol Hill on a bipartisan basis about the enhanced interrogation program," Hoekstra said. "I think the administration should review the CIA notes and records from the briefings and, consistent with national security, make them available to the public."
Hoekstra sent his request following his personal review of the records at CIA headquarters Thursday. He said it is a mistake for people to look at this issue politically, instead of focusing on the importance of the congressional role in reviewing and conducting oversight of various intelligence programs.
"This effort is not about one person, but what lawmakers in this institution, in both parties, were aware of and supported at the time," Hoekstra said. "Releasing these records will help clear the air. Accountability for enhanced interrogation doesn’t begin with lawyers who offered opinions or interrogators in the field, it begins right here in the halls of Congress."
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