Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have changed.

By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the new Privacy Policy and T
erms of Service.
CNN Politics
SET EDITION: U.S.INTERNATIONALMXICOARABIC
TV: CNNCNNiCNN en EspaolHLN
Sign upLog in
Submit
Home
TV & Video
U.S.
World
Politics
Justice
Entertainment
Tech
Health
Living
Travel
Opinion
iReport
Money
Sports
SHARE THIS
Print
Email
More sharing
Cheney: 'The report's full of crap'
By Eric Bradner, CNN
updated 6:43 PM EST, Wed December 10, 2014
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that the Senate Intelligence Co
mmittee's report on CIA interrogation techniques is
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that the Senate Intelligence Co
mmittee's report on CIA interrogation techniques is "full of crap."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Dick Cheney called the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA interrogati
on techniques a "terrible piece of work"
He said he has no regrets about the tactics used after the 9/11 terrorist attack
s
Washington (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney called a Senate panel's re
port on U.S. interrogation tactics during George W. Bush's administration is "de
eply flawed" and a "terrible piece of work."
"The report's full of crap," he said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday
evening.
Bush's Republican vice president insisted that the Central Intelligence Agency's
rough tactics -- which the report said included mock executions, beatings, "rec
tal rehydration" and feeding, sleep deprivation and more -- helped the United St
ates "catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11."
"It did in fact produce actionable intelligence that was vital in the success of
keeping the country safe from further attacks," he said.
Asked specifically about the rectal rehydration instance detailed in the report,
Cheney said: "I don't know anything about that specific instance -- I can't spe
ak to that."
He also said he hadn't actually read the report. Its full 6,000 pages haven't be
en released, but a lengthy summary was issued Tuesday. Cheney said he'd "seen pa
rts of it. I read summaries of it."
Contrary to the report's conclusion that Bush didn't know the extent of the CIA'
s efforts, Cheney said the President was involved in discussions about the inter
rogation techniques, and that Bush even pointed out some of those conversations

in a book he wrote after leaving office.

He said he has no regrets about the tactics used after the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qa
eda attacks.
"I think what needed to be done was done," Cheney said. "I think we were perfect
ly justified in doing it. And I'd do it again in a minute."
Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have changed.
By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the new Privacy Policy and T
erms of Service.
CNN Politics
SET EDITION: U.S.INTERNATIONALMXICOARABIC
TV: CNNCNNiCNN en EspaolHLN
Sign upLog in
Submit
Home
TV & Video
U.S.
World
Politics
Justice
Entertainment
Tech
Health
Living
Travel
Opinion
iReport
Money
Sports
SHARE THIS
Print
Email
More sharing
Dem backlash throws spending bill in doubt
By Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett, CNN
updated 5:45 PM EST, Wed December 10, 2014
Watch this video
We have a deal (or do we?)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Congress must pass a bill by Thursday at midnight to keep the government open
Dem backlash is throwing spending deal into doubt
Washington (CNN) -- A backlash from Democrats over add-ons to a massive governme
nt spending bill is throwing passage of the measure into doubt and once again ra
ising concerns about a government shutdown.
The House is slated to vote on the legislation Thursday, just hours before agenc
ies run out of money.
The $1.1 trillion spending bill authorizes funding for virtually all agencies th
rough September, but some Democrats on Capitol Hill are vowing to oppose the leg
islation, arguing that the addition of some key policy changes amount to a givea
way for big special interests. Congress must pass some type of legislation by Th
ursday at midnight to avert a shutdown.
READ: What's tucked into the spending bill
The top concerns from Democrats center on a proposal to ease banking regulations
in the Dodd-Frank law and a measure that would allow wealthy donors to give con
siderably more money to the political parties.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the provisions were "destructive to midd
le class families and to the practice to our democracy" and demanded they be str
ipped out of the bill. Pelosi's position is critical because House Republicans n
eed Democratic support for the measure to pass.
Though Republicans hold a significant majority in the House, Speaker John Boehne
r is expected to lose anywhere from 40 to 60 conservatives in his party who oppo

se the bill because it doesn't block the President's immigration executive actio
n. Democrats will need to provide votes to offset those losses, setting up the s
ort of political brinksmanship that has become typical in Washington.
A shutdown remains unlikely because lawmakers could agree at the last minute to
approve a bill that would keep the government running for a few months -- when R
epublicans will have full control of Congress.
House GOP aides say they are surprised Pelosi and others are lobbying for change
s, since Democrats signed off on the bill before its release.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, asked by CNN if he was concerned about the
bill's prospects, said no, replying with a smile, "do I look worried?"
Key Senate Democrats are also blasting the deal.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second ranking Democrats who is in charge of c
ounting votes, said he didn't know if he would support the compromise or how man
y Democrats would. He called the Dodd-Frank provisions "awful."
"It is just an invitation for another financial disaster and the Republicans are
hell-bent on getting that included," Durbin told reporters in the Capitol.
"Their appetite is whetted by the Nov. 4th election to undo Dodd-Frank. That has
been one of their passions, second only to repealing the Affordable Care Act, a
nd it means that the Wall Street interests -- the big banks, you know -- they're
back on top as far as the House Republicans are concerned," he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the liberal Democrat from Massachusetts who is heavily in
volved in banking regulations, lashed out at the changes to the banking rules.
READ: Activists fear bill will ban DC pot legalization
"The House is about to vote on a budget deal -- a deal negotiated behind closed
doors that slips in a provision that would let derivatives traders on Wall Stree
t gamble with taxpayer money and get bailed out by the government when their ris
ky bets threaten to blow up our financial system," she said in a passionate floo
r speech. "These are the same banks that nearly broke the economy in 2008 and de
stroyed millions of jobs."
She urged Democrats to oppose the spending bill until "this risky giveaway is re
moved from the legislation."
On the campaign finance matter, House Speaker John Boehner said larger individua
l donations to the parties are needed because Congress had recently eliminated t
axpayer funds for political conventions.
"The Congress is very concerned about taxpayer funding of political activities,"
Boehner said. "This provision was worked out in a bipartisan way to allow those
who are organizing conventions the opportunity to raise the money from private
sources as opposed to using taxpayer funds."
Republican aides familiar with the negotiations say that both the chairs of the
Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee supported the ch
ange on contributions limits to boost their own coffers.
But DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz told CNN it was "absolutely not" true that
she knew anything about the change to campaign finance laws being added to the
spending bill.
She said there was a joint effort with the RNC to appeal to the Federal Election
Commission to raise the cap for donors for conventions, but she did not support
putting this provision in the funding bill.
Democratic aides say it's still early to gauge how many members will vote no on
Thursday, but acknowledge that the deal was brokered by Democrats and Republican
s over several weeks. Democrats who negotiated the deal defended the end result,
saying Republicans had pressed for six different changes to Dodd-Frank but Demo
crats were able to whittle it down to one. Democrats also said they successfully
removed more than two dozen environmental items and a handful of gun-related po
licy provisions sought by Republicans.
Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a top Pelosi deputy, said he's voting no, and de
scribed the opposition as "running deep and getting deeper" as more Democrats re
view the details.
The number three House Democrat, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, told reporters
he was undecided, but was hearing "lots of concerns" about the banking provisio
n, and said "a lot of civil rights groups have been burning up the airwaves with

problems about this."

A similar measure removing this same financial regulation was passed by the Hous
e last October, with 70 Democrats voting for it, a point McCarthy noted on Wedne
sday when pressed about the latest criticism from Democrats
"Do they want to shut down the government?" McCarthy said about those Democrats
vowing to oppose the spending measure.
Boehner's spokesman said the controversial provisions will remain in the bill.
"If Rep. Pelosi doesn't think her negotiators did a good job, she should discuss
it with them - but sour grapes doesn't mean she gets to rewrite the deal after
the fact," Michael Steel said in a statement to CNN.
Still Republicans insist that there won't be a shutdown over this issue, and ind
icated they would consider a short-term funding bill through early next year -when they will have full control of Congress -- if this bill fails.
CNN's Adam Levy contributed to this report
Promoted Stories
Recommended by
More Promoted Stories
More from CNN
"Big Bang Theory" actor dead at 62
Justin Bieber's childhood home is for sale
Protests after N.Y. cop not indicted in chokehold death; feds reviewing case
What's spooking the stock market?
NFL player's thoughtful Ferguson post draws applause
Stars slammed in leaked Sony emails
Recommended by
Search
Powered by Google
Home | Video | U.S. | World | Politics | Justice | Entertainment | Tech | Health
| Living | Travel | Opinion | iReport | Money | Sports
Tools & widgets | RSS | Podcasts | Blogs | CNN mobile | My profile | E-mail aler
ts | Desktop Alerts | CNN shop | Site map | Contact us
CNN en ESPAOL | CNN Mxico | CNN Chile | CNN Expansin
??????? | ??? | Trke
CNN TV | HLN | Transcripts |
2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of service | Privacy guidelines | AdChoices | Advertise with us | About us
| Work for us | Help
CNN Newsource | License Footage
Promoted Stories
Recommended by
More Promoted Stories
More from CNN
Sasha, Malia unimpressed by turkey pardon
Are 'smart pills' the best way to stay sharp?
Stars slammed in leaked Sony emails
ESPN hosts pay tribute to Stuart Scott
Charles Barkley, wrong on race, Ferguson and Garner
Cosby dealt another blow with AP video
Recommended by
Search
Powered by Google
Home | Video | U.S. | World | Politics | Justice | Entertainment | Tech | Health
| Living | Travel | Opinion | iReport | Money | Sports
Tools & widgets | RSS | Podcasts | Blogs | CNN mobile | My profile | E-mail aler
ts | Desktop Alerts | CNN shop | Site map | Contact us
CNN en ESPAOL | CNN Mxico | CNN Chile | CNN Expansin
??????? | ??? | Trke

CNN TV | HLN | Transcripts |

2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of service | Privacy guidelines | AdChoices | Advertise with us | About us
| Work for us | Help
CNN Newsource | License Footage