This news really isn’t (or shouldn’t be) very surprising, but since in some quarters there’s a misperception that the CIA is eager to get back in the business of detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects–and using torture and other abusive techniques to do so– . . . it is probably worth noting that CIA General Counsel Caroline Krass stated yesterday, at the Aspen Institute, that the Administration, including the Intelligence Community, supports enactment of the McCain/Feinstein proposal to codify sections 3(b) and 4(b) of President Obama’s Executive Order 13491. See approximately minute 34 of the video here. Those provisions of E.O. 13491 (i) generally prohibit the U.S. government from subjecting any individual in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the Government, or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by the Government, in any armed conflict, to any interrogation technique or approach, or any treatment related to interrogation, that is not authorized by and listed in Army Field Manual 2-22.3; and (ii) and require all departments and agencies of the Federal Government to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with notification of, and timely access to, any such detained individuals in any armed conflict.
The Senate has already approved the McCain/Feinstein amendment–a provision of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act–by a vote of 78-21. The bill is currently in conference.