Thread by @_ElizabethRB

hello I am processing my outrage at @SenateDems over their failure to vote together and #BlockHaspel and I think I'm going to tweet one fact from the torture report for every Democrat who comes out in support of Haspel is anyone with me on this

OK, here we go.

A favored tactic of the CIA was to tell detainees they would kill their children or rape their mothers in front of them. (pp.4, 70, 487) This happened in the site Haspel oversaw.

@Sen_JoeManchin was the first Dem to support Haspel: thehill.com/homenews/senat…

The CIA had this black site called the Salt Pit/COBALT which was "a dungeon." (p 50). No lights, constant loud music, only buckets for bathrooms.

@SenDonnelly was the 2nd Dem to announce support for Haspel. nymag.com/daily/intellig…

This one's difficult. A man named Gul Rahman was was beaten, stripped naked and chained to a concrete floor by the CIA.

They found him dead in his cell hours later, from hypothermia. (p. 54)

Today, @MarkWarner announced his support for Haspel: cbsnews.com/news/democrats…

Many were shackled to a bar over their head, unable to sit/sleep. One interrogator found a man in that standing position who had been chained there 17 days "as far as we could determine" (p. 50)

@SenatorHeitkamp announced her support for Haspel today: thehill.com/policy/nationa…

The CIA also sexually assaulted detainees. They called it "rectal feeding" or "rectal exams conducted with excessive force" and it left one man, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, with a torn rectum. (p. 100)

@SenBillNelson became the 5th Dem to back Haspel today: tampabay.com/florida-politi…

I've been urged by several folks to do one for each R who votes for her, too. I think that's a great idea - Haspel was the choice of Trump and his GOP supporters. Dems have no excuse for voting for her, but Rs ARE NOT off the hook. Torture is not a partisan issue. Here we go.

One CIA interrogator taunted a detainee that he'd never go to court. Because, as he said, "we can never let the world know what I have done to you." (p 4)

This morning, @SenatorBurr voted to confirm Gina Haspel.

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One black site was run by a kid with no experience/training handling prisoners/interrogations. A supervisor expressed concern with his "judgment and maturity" and found his behavior "worrisome." (p 50)

This morning, @RoyBlunt voted to confirm Gina Haspel blunt.senate.gov/public/index.c…

You know the whole "they were just following orders" thing? Nah. The CIA used torture techniques that went way beyond what had been approved or authorized by DOJ or CIA HQ. (p 12)

This morning, @SenatorCollins voted to confirm Gina Haspel. collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senat…

Several CIA interrogators were ppl w/profound problems: they "engaged in inappropriate detainee interrogations, had workplace anger management issues, and had reportedly admitted to sexual assault." (p 424)

@JohnCornyn just voted to confirm Gina Haspel dallasnews.com/opinion/commen…

The CIA continuously lied to the public, Congress, and even the rest of the Bush Administration about the full truth of the torture program. (p 2-8)

@TomCottonAR just voted to confirm Gina Haspel

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The CIA did this weird choreographed "rough takedown" thing where they would rush a detainee screaming, tackle him, cut his clothes off and hood him, then drag him down a hallway and beat him. (p 4)

This morning, @SenatorLankford voted to confirm Haspel

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The CIA frequently made the detainees wear diapers. They told the DOJ it was for hygiene reasons but their own records show it was to cause "humiliation" and "helplessness." (p 415)

This morning, @SenatorRisch voted to confirm Gina Haspel

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The CIA's use of torture didn't produce any useful intelligence. Not that that matters. (p 2)

This morning, @marcorubio voted to confirm Gina Haspel

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The CIA found out that one detainee had a severe phobia of bugs. So they locked him in a cramped coffin-like box and dropped an insect in with him. (p 409)

Democratic @SenatorShaheen just came out in support of Gina Haspel

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The Senate just confirmed Gina Haspel as CIA Director, 54-45. Time to pick this thread back up and add a fact from the torture report for each "yes" vote.

My apologies for not including a content warning sooner. Here we go.

We've already discussed the standing shackled sleep deprivation. This one guy's story may take a few tweets. We'll start with the fact that they chained him up standing so he couldn't sleep for 52 hours. (p 149)

@SenJohnBarrasso just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer.

His legs started to swell like crazy, in a way that was alarming, so they let him sit down. He still wasn't allowed to sleep. The sleep deprivation extended to 78 hours. (p 149)

@SenBobCorker just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer.

They gave him blood thinners in hopes that the swelling would go away. Seems like it worked. So they made him stand back up and chained him up there again. The sleep deprivation had now been going on for 102 hours (p 149)

@SenTedCruz just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Finally, FINALLY, they let this guy sleep. But it was a cruel trick, because they just woke him back up in 4 hours and chained him up standing again. They left him that way for another 52 hours. (p 149)

@SenatorFischer just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer.

Not that it matters, but after all that, this guy produced "almost no information" that was useful. That's according to the CIA in a Presidential Daily Brief.

@senorrinhatch just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer.

The CIA really liked to use claustrophobia to torture. They put a coffin in the interrogation room sometimes, and made one person stay locked in it for a total of 266 hours (that comes out to more than 11 days). (p 42)

@SenDeanHeller just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Back to that standing shackled sleep deprivation thing. There was one alarming instance where one man was left that way for two and a half days. They then took things even further. (p 69)

@SenAlexander just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

The CIA then blindfolded that guy and held a gun to his head, letting him sweat it out. This is after that excruciating standing/sleep deprivation/shackled experience. (p 69)

@JohnBoozman just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

They still weren't done after that! This interrogator then revved up a cordless drill next to the guy, implying they were about to....I don't know, power drill holes in him? (p 69)

@SenCapito just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

By the way, the man who pulled this stunt had zero training or experience, and had been flagged for having "a temper and some security issues." Yeah, no kidding. (p 69)

@BillCassidy just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Again, not like it matters, but even the CIA admits this detainee provided no additional information as a result of this improvised torture session. (p 69)

@MikeCrapo just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Interestingly, the supervisor on base said he only approved this whole thing because he felt so much pressure from CIA HQ to produce "imminent threat" information out of this detainee. (p 70)

@SteveDaines just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

OH another interesting thing - that interrogator actually got "disciplined" for this incident. 5 days suspension w/o pay, a letter of reprimand, and a year without promotions. (p 70, fn 356) Lame.

@SenatorEnzi just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

There are creepy details about how people were brought to the black sites. Total sensory deprivation: hooded, shackled, headsets. No bathrooms, just diapers. Strapped to the floor horizontally like cargo. (p 64)

@SenJoniErnst just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Oh btw, the claustrophobia thing wasn't limited to the coffin I mentioned. There was a smaller box they made people get in that measured only 21 inches wide/2.5 ft deep/2.5 ft high. Seriously, measure that out. (p 42)

@CoryGardner just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

They locked someone in that extremely small box for 29 hours. (p. 42)

@LindseyGrahamSC just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Oh also, they told one of the detainees that the only way he'd be able to get out of the torture chamber was in the coffin. (p 42)

@ChuckGrassley just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

The whole torture program was based on this theory of "learned helplessness" - developed by psychologists to make the detainees so depressed and hopeless that they become entirely dependent on their captors. (p 26)

@SenJohnHoeven just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

It totally worked. The report talks about how some of the detainees started behaving like abused dogs, cowering when their cell doors were opened as if they were being kenneled (p 50)

@SenHydeSmith just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Another person would compliantly lie on the waterboard every time an interrogator snapped his fingers twice. Just like a dog being called. Learned helplessness. (p 43)

@JimInhofe just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

I want to point out that the tweet above is the first time in this thread I've even mentioned a waterboard. That's intentional - waterboarding was a tiny fraction of what went down yet it's all people talk about.

@SenatorIsakson just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Oh, about the psychologists I mentioned: the @ACLU sued them, and they defended themselves by saying they were just doing what the CIA told them to do, & they needed...drumroll...GINA HASPEL'S testimony to back them up.

@RonJohnsonWI just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

Interrogators used unauthorized techniques against SEVENTEEN different people held captive by the CIA. (p 101)

@SenMikeLee just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

I should point out that one of the guys who suffered from unauthorized CIA treatment is named Toffiq (p 102), and he is STILL in US captivity to this day. Never charged with anything. Cleared to leave in 2010.

@SenateMajLdr just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

We don't get a lot of details, but the report tells us that the CIA carried out "mock executions" at least twice. (p 56). Reminds me of that scene from the Handmaid's Tale.

@jerrymoran just voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer

I have to pause here for today. I'm going to tweet a fact from the torture report for every single senator who voted to confirm Gina Haspel, a torturer, as CIA Director.

Stay tuned.