Ousted Dem Sen. Mark Udall Goes Nuts On Lying Liars At CIA

Sen. Mark Udall was turfed out of office this November by the good people of Colorado, so for the last few weeks, Udall's been wandering the halls of Congress wondering what to do with his final moments on the public stage. Today, Udall delivered what will likely be his final floor speech as a senator, and it was a certified stemwinder.

Udall had been saying for weeks that if the torture report's unclassified summary wasn't transparent enough, he'd read the whole thing into the congressional record. He didn't go quite that far, but he did deliver an impassioned 48-minute-long speech, and we think this is the money shot, via National Journal .

"The Panetta review found that the CIA repeatedly provided inaccurate information to the Congress, the President, and the public on the efficacy of its coercive techniques. [...] The Panetta review further describes how detainees provided intelligence prior to the use of torture against them. It describes how the CIA, contrary to its representations, often tortured detainees before trying any other approach. It describes how the CIA tortured detainees even when less-coercive methods were yielding intelligence. The Panetta review further identifies cases in which the CIA used coercive techniques when it had no basis for determining if a detainee had critical intelligence at all.

In other words, CIA personnel tortured detainees to confirm they didn't have intelligence, not because they thought they did."

Udall's spokesman insists that this is not a case of his boss going Full Gravel (“The conclusions and findings Mark outlined on the Senate floor today are based on facts that are already declassified. He did not disclose any classified information.”), so Udall won't need to invoke the superpowers contained in the Speech or Debate Clause . Still, we think this qualifies as a legit  Profiles in Courage  kind of moment.

Did Udall stop there? Hell no, he did not stop there. Politico brings us more.

“The CIA has lied to its overseers and the public, destroyed and tried to hold back evidence, spied on the Senate, made false charges against our staff, and lied about torture and the results of torture. And no one has been held to account,” Udall complained. “There are right now people serving in high-level positions at the agency who approved, directed or committed acts related to the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. It’s bad enough not to prosecute these officials, but to reward or promote them and risk the integrity of the U.S. government to protect them is incomprehensible.”

Preach, outgoing Sen. Mark Udall. Preach.

Enjoy your time with SenatorPersonhood Amendment  Over-the-Counter Slut Pills , Colorado.

[ National Journal / Politico ]

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