WASHINGTON — Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned.
The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, were discussed and approved.
A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the meetings confirmed the details first reported by ABC News on Wednesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.
Between 2002 and 2003, the Justice Department issued memos that justified using the interrogation tactics, including ones critics call torture.
“If you looked at the timing of the meetings and the memos, you’d see a correlation,” the former intelligence official said.
The meetings were held in the White House. Attending were Cheney, then-Bush aides Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The White House, the Justice and State departments, and the CIA refused to comment Thursday.
