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Central Intelligence Agency

Acronym: 
CIA
Seal/Image: 

George Tenet

Torture Connection: 
Lord of the Black Sites
  • Born 1953, Flushing, Queens, New York.
  • B.A., Georgetown University; Master's degree, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
  • Served in staff positions in U.S. Senate, including Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 1979-93.
  • Bill Clinton applinted him to National Security Council, then as Deputy Director, CIA
  • Became CIA Director, 1997. Bush kept him on till 2004.
  • Currently managing investment bank Allen & Co.

John Rizzo

Torture Connection: 
Lawyer for the CIA
  • Graduated from Brown University, George Washington Law School.
  • Thirty-year career with CIA. Under Bush, served as CIA Acting General Counsel.
  • Nominated as General Counsel in 2006, but nomination stalled for more than a year, then withdrawn in August 2007 after senators indicated disapproval of his role in CIA torture.
  • Despite withdrawing the nomination, Bush kept Rizzo as the CIA's top lawyer, still designated "acting."

James L. Pavitt

Torture Connection: 
Pushed the CIA to the Forefront
  • Born 1946, St. Louis
  • B.A. University of Missouri, graduate study at Clark University
  • 1969-73, U.S. Army intelligence officer, congressional liaison
  • 1973, joined CIA clandestine service
  • 1999-2004, Deputy Director for Operations under George Tenet
  • Private intelligence consultant with Scowcroft firm

James Mitchell

Torture Connection: 
Designed and implemented CIA torture methods
  • Retired from U.S. Air Force in May 2001 as an officer administering SERE training--programs training military personnel to withstand possible enemy torture
  • June 2001-April 2002, operated several firms providing services associated with "extreme situations." Contacted CIA with torture contract proposal.
  • April 2002-?? as principal in new company, Mitchell, Jessen & Assocs., contracted with CIA to provide torture services

Bruce Jessen

Torture Connection: 
The shrink
  • Born in 1949, raised in Idaho
  • Joined the Air Force as an enlisted man, attended college and graduate school while in the service
  • Ph.D. in psychology, Utah State University. Dissertation on family therapy.
  • In late 2001, obtained copy, possibly through CIA channels, of alleged "Al-Qaeda training manual" that discussed resistance to standard interrogation procedures.
  • From 2002 on, left air force to work with fellow psychologist James Mitchell in private corporation, Mitchell Jessen Associates, that contracted with the CIA to supervise "enhanced" interrogation procedures--i.e., torture.

Cofer Black

Torture Connection: 
"The gloves come off."
  • Born 1950, Stamford, CT
  • High school at Canterbury prep school, college at University of Southern California
  • Master's of International Relations, USC, 1974.
  • Joined CIA clandestine service in 1974, served 6 foreign tours, mostly in Africa.
  • CIA station chief in Khartoum, Sudan, 1993-94, when bin Laden was there. Helped capture Carlos the Jackal.
  • Director of CIA's Counter-terrorism Center (CTC), 1999-2001
  • After 9/11, "led the hunt" for Osama bin Laden, including at Tora Bora.
  • State Department ambassador-at-large for Counterterrorism, 2002-04
  • Vice-chairman, Blackwater USA, 2005-present
  • Principal, 2006-present, Complete Intelligence Solutions, a Blackwater spin-off providing security data and services for the private sector
  • Advised Romney presidential campaign on national security issues, 2007-08.
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