吃瓜大本营

After 9/11, the President authorized the CIA 鈥溾�� persons outside the United States. So began the CIA鈥檚 rendition, detention, and interrogation program, wherein dozens of Muslim men and boys were abducted, tortured, held incommunicado, and denied legal process. In September 2006, the CIA transferred fourteen of the men in its program to a facility at Guant谩namo Bay known as Camp VII. Although Camp VII was located on a U.S. naval base, according to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence鈥檚 , the facility 鈥渞emained under the of the CIA.鈥�

James G. Connell, III, is an attorney who represents Ammar al Baluchi, one of the fourteen men subjected to the CIA torture program and sent to Camp VII. To better represent his client before a military commission at Guant谩namo Bay, Mr. Connell filed a FOIA request with the CIA seeking information about the agency鈥檚 鈥渙perational control鈥� over Camp VII after his client鈥檚 arrival there. The CIA ultimately produced three records, withheld a fourth document in its entirety, and refused to confirm or deny whether any other responsive records exist.

That refusal to acknowledge whether records exist 鈥� known as a Glomar response 鈥� undercuts the FOIA process before it even begins. Mr. Connell filed a lawsuit challenging the CIA鈥檚 assertion of a Glomar response. The district court ruled in favor of the CIA. The ACLU represents Mr. Connell on appeal.

The CIA鈥檚 assertion of Glomar is unlawful. To be upheld, the CIA must demonstrate that it is logical or plausible that it has no responsive records in light of the entire record. But reams of record evidence leave no doubt that the CIA maintained some measure of operational control over detainees at Camp VII during the relevant time period. The Senate , which was released with the President鈥檚 blessing after an executive branch declassification review following direct input and responses from the CIA, conclusively undermines the agency鈥檚 Glomar response. Other declassified in the also address the measure of the CIA鈥檚 power and authority over Camp VII. And and from the Guant谩namo military commissions proceedings further undermine any CIA claim to secrecy over whether records responsive to Mr. Connell鈥檚 request, in fact, exist. Moreover, through some of those same documents, the CIA waived its ability to assert a Glomar response through official acknowledgment.