Ex-CIA contractor: Senate Dems have put my life in danger

A psychologist the CIA contracted to help lead interrogations says that the release of the Senate report on CIA tactics “put my life in danger.”

{mosads}The psychologist, James Mitchell, and his partner Bruce Jessen, were hired by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to carry out interrogations of detainees.

The release last week of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report, which detailed tactics such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation and rectal feeding, has reopened the debate on the tactics. 

Mitchell, in an interview with Fox News’s “The Kelly File” on Monday night, said that he has received death threats following the release of the report. 

“They have a foregone conclusion about this,” Mitchell said of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “They put my life in danger; they put the lives of other CIA personnel and our families in danger for some sort of moral high ground.”

“How many times in your life have you had a law enforcement official call you up in the middle of the day and say ‘Leave your house immediately?’ ” Mitchell said. “That happened to me a couple of days ago.”

An aide on the Senate Intelligence Committee noted that the report did not name Mitchell.

“The study does not name James Mitchell and the CIA was adamant—and the committee agreed—that any information that could lead to harm was redacted, and it was,” the aide said.

Many Republicans have criticized the release of the report, citing the potential for it to incite attacks against Americans. Many Democrats, as well as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have argued that the report provides needed information and that enemies do not need an added excuse to attack Americans. 

Mitchell faults the report for not including any interviews with CIA officials. It instead relies on documents from the time. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the committee, has said that an ongoing Justice Department investigation limited the committee’s ability to interview people involved. 

“I don’t want to die because the Democrats in the Senate don’t have the courtesy to ask the CIA to explain,” Mitchell said. 

The Senate report describes Mitchell and Jessen as ill-prepared to carry out interrogations. “Neither psychologist had any experience as an interrogator, nor did either have specialized knowledge of al-Qa’ida, a background in counterterrorism, or any relevant cultural or linguistic expertise,” the report states. 

The report adds that “the contractors received $81 million prior to termination in 2009.”

“I’m proud of the work we did. We saved lives. I don’t care what the Senate said,” Mitchell said. 

He cited a comment from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and whom Mitchell helped interrogate and waterboard.

“In fact, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told me personally,” Mitchell said. “‘Your country will turn on you; the liberal media will turn on you; the people will grow tired of this; they will turn on you, and when they do, you are going to be abandoned.'”

This story was updated at 1:23 p.m.