McConnell: Torture Report Was One Last ‘Thumb In The Eye’ Of Bush Admin

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, joined by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, right, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the Senate Republican Conference chairman, speaks with reporters followi... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, joined by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, right, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the Senate Republican Conference chairman, speaks with reporters following a closed-door policy meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bashed a CIA torture report released by Democrats on Tuesday as just one last “thumb in the eye of the Bush administration.”

McConnell made those comments during a Politico Lessons from Leaders event.

“This is the Democrats’ only report. It had no recommendations,” McConnell said. “It served no purpose other than to confirm what we already knew that certain techniques were used on a few people.”

McConnell added that “the only result of this release is to endanger American lives around the globe right now.”

A day earlier McConnell and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a joint statement criticizing the release.

“It served absolutely no purpose other than one last thumb in the eye of the Bush administration and was a big mistake in my opinion,” McConnell said.

Asked if he questioned the whether torture techniques were effective in countering terrorism, McConnell said “almost everybody familiar has said they were.”

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for vonq vonq says:

    Sounds like wishful thinking: only the “last” thumb in the eye?

  2. “McConnell: Torture Report Was One Last ‘Thumb In The Eye’ Of Bush Admin”

    Would you prefer we forced food up his ass instead?

    I would.

  3. Avatar for phd9 phd9 says:

    Asked if he questioned the whether torture techniques were effective in countering terrorism, McConnell said “almost everybody familiar has said they were.”

    When faced with a dilemma it makes sense to ask, “Who benefits the most by lying?” It’s just a shame that a supposed ‘leader’ is willing to shed his last shed of decency at the Capital steps.

  4. What does it say about Yertle that he has no problem with what the CIA did, but gets upset about their behavior having a light shown on it?

  5. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    Well I’ll take a stab at that. He’s a duly elected official that has fascist fantasies?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

55 more replies

Participants

Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for slbinva Avatar for anniew Avatar for jw1 Avatar for jep07 Avatar for pickwick Avatar for trumpdog Avatar for tani Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for cvilledem Avatar for goner Avatar for mantan Avatar for sniffit Avatar for bonvivant Avatar for TommyShaman Avatar for maxaroo Avatar for bobschmidt Avatar for neal Avatar for thomasmatthew Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for jinmichigan Avatar for meta Avatar for sherron Avatar for jviscont1

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: