{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-cia-demand-to-black-out-torture-report-details-would-be-unprecedented", "Wyden: CIA Demand To Black Out Torture Report Details Would Be Unprecedented", "2014-10-31", "2014", "2014-10", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Has Long History of Using Pseudonyms to Protect Agents\u2019 Identities; Redacting All Pseudonyms Buries the Facts, Doesn\u2019t Improve National Security\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, October 31, 2014\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, D.C. \u2013The Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s call to black out all pseudonyms from the Senate Intelligence Committee\u2019s report on torture would be unprecedented \u2013 and represents an unacceptable effort to obscure key facts, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said today.\r\n\u201cThis report is about mistakes, misdeeds and falsehoods that were repeated over a period of years. \u00a0If you don\u2019t know whether they were repeated by different officials each time, or by the same officials over and over, you really don\u2019t know the full story,\u201d Wyden said.\u00a0\u201cA lot of officials are intent on burying the full story, but getting the truth out is the only way to keep all of this from happening again.\u201d\r\nWyden believes strongly that undercover agents\u2019 identities must be protected. That\u2019s why he worked with former Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., to double the criminal penalty for government employees who knowingly expose a covert agent. And Wyden and other Intelligence Committee members agree that undercover agents\u2019 real names should not be made public.\r\n\u201cIt is entirely appropriate to redact specific identifying information that would reveal an undercover officer\u2019s secret identity \u2013 that\u2019s not what\u2019s at issue here,\u201d Wyden said.\u00a0 \u201cThe CIA is demanding that every single pseudonym in this report be blacked out.\u00a0That would be unprecedented and unacceptable.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThe CIA\u2019s current opposition to using pseudonyms runs contrary to decades of precedent.\u00a0 U.S. government agencies have used pseudonyms to protect agents\u2019 identities in public reports going back decades, including:\r\n \r\nReview of the FBI\u2019s Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq (2008) \u2013 Refers to FBI Special Agents involved in detainee interrogations using pseudonyms such as\u00a0 \u201cThomas\u201d and \u201cGibson.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThe 9/11 Commission Report (2004) \u2013 Refers to agents involved in hunting Osama Bin Ladin and other sensitive operations using pseudonyms such as \u201cMike,\u201d \u201cRichard,\u201d \u201cJeff.\u201d Pages 110, 112, 113, 114, 130, 131, 133, 138, 142, 204.\r\nThe Investigation of the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility (2004) \u2013 Refers to CIA employees at the Abu Ghraib prison using pseudonyms such as \u201cOther Agency Employee01,\u201d \u201cOther Agency Employee02,\u201d etc. Pages 53, 54, 55, 76\r\nFinal Report of the Assassination Records Review Board \u2013 (1998) \u2013 Includes the names of some CIA officers, and notes that \u201cin some cases pseudonyms are used instead of an individual\u2019s true name.\u201d (p. 52)\u00a0 Also notes that \u201cthe Review Board would not agree to CIA\u2019s request for blanket postponements of CIA names.\u201d Page 48.\r\nReport of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair (1987) \u2013 refers to a CIA station chief in Central America using the pseudonym \u201cTomas Castillo. \u201c Pages pp. 139, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 505-510.\r\nAlleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders \u2013 (1975) \u2013 Report authored by the Church Committee notes that \u201cWe believe that the public is entitled to know what instrumentalities of their Government have done,\u201d and that \u201cthe Committee, on occasions, resorted, on balance, to the use of an alias or a general description of the individual or his position.\u201d Page 2.\r\n \r\nLast week Sen. Wyden renewed his call for CIA\u2019s leadership to stop trying to bury key facts about torture.\r\n \r\nBlacking out #torturereport details would be unprecedented & does not improve national security http://t.co/M0cnjT9SJh\r\n\u2014 Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) October 31, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-cia-demand-to-black-out-torture-report-details-would-be-unprecedented"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5247710980474949, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}