Former CIA Director Michael Hayden told the BBC on Wednesday that he thought it was unfair for the agency to be condemned by the Senate torture report in the court of public opinion without a chance to defend itself:
[The report] is accusations. [...] It's as if we were tried and convicted in absentia. We were not given an opportunity to mount a defense. And there was no discovery process by which alleged evidence could be revealed and challenged. [The Atlantic]
As critics have pointed out, Hayden's complaints are difficult to take seriously given the report's revelation that the CIA brutally tortured 119 detainees, at least 26 of whom were known to be innocent, without giving them an opportunity to mount a defense in a court of law. Hayden has also said he is "quite comfortable" with executing two American citizens by drone strike sans due process.
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