Former CIA officials predict mass resignations if Donald Trump tried to carry out his torture plans
Donald Trump has pledged that his presidency would resume waterboarding "or worse" — orders that top CIA officials say would cause heavy resistance from the agency.
"I certainly think many of those who were connected to the [enhanced interrogation techniques] program over its six years' span — and hundreds are still there — would resign or retire rather than having to go down that perilous road again," former CIA lawyer John Rizzo told Newsweek.
While many have debated the extent to which waterboarding is effective (not to mention if such measures violate the Geneva Convention's prohibitions on torture), Trump has insisted that, "It works, okay? It works. Only a stupid person would say it doesn't work." Trump has gone as far as to admit that even if it doesn't work, terrorist suspects "deserve it anyway, for what they're doing."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I pity the poor SOB who is President Trump's CIA director and gets the order to do interrogation techniques 'worse' than waterboarding, not to mention the CIA general counsel or Justice Department attorney general who has the legal issue dropped in his or her lap," Rizzo said.
One of the CIA's former chiefs, General Michael Hayden, put it in clearer terms in the ABC documentary The Spymasters: "If some future president is going to decide to waterboard," Hayden said, "he'd better bring his own bucket, because he's going to have to do it himself."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Dinosaurs were thriving before asteroid, study findsSpeed Read The dinosaurs would not have gone extinct if not for the asteroid
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
FBI nabs dozens in alleged NBA gambling ringSpeed Read Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among 34 people indicted in connection with federal gambling investigations
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
