The Trump administration is trying to bury the Senate’s 2014 report on the CIA’s torture program, but President Obama thought ahead and included a copy of the report in his presidential papers, where Trump can’t get to it, and it may someday be declassified.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is handing back copies of the report to Congress:
However, before he left office, President Obama anticipated that Trump might do this, so he had a copy of the report included in his presidential papers.
As Reuters reported at the time, “President Barack Obama’s administration has decided to include a massive report on the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” in his presidential papers, meaning it may eventually be declassified.”
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The Trump administration has promised to bring back torture, so it was predictable that they would try to bury the definitive report that concludes that torture does not work.
Having a copy of the report in Obama’s presidential papers is not as good as declassifying the report, as Democrats asked President Obama to do, but the former president did make sure that the report was preserved so that it can serve as a reminder that torture serves no purpose in a democratic society.
Because of the actions that Obama took, Trump won’t get a chance to completely bury this shameful part of American history. Someday, hopefully soon, citizens of our country can see the consequences of allowing our nation to be governed by fear.
Americans may someday be able to read the full torture report because Barack Obama had the foresight to protect it from Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
