Florida Democrats Divide on Releasing CIA Information

Democrats in the Florida congressional delegation weighed in on Tuesday after the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, still controlled by Democrats until the GOP takes over in January, released extended details on how the CIA obtained intelligence on terrorism, including using torture techniques.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and used to sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee, backed the decision to release this information.

Since 2001, weve made a number of decisions to strengthen our nation's defenses against terrorist attacks, Nelson said. Many of these decisions have saved lives while mistakes and abuses, such as those in this report, have been rightly criticized. We must remember that it is the goal of the U.S. intelligence community to gather information about a shadowy enemy determined to do us harm.

But U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., tore into the committee for releasing the information.

I strongly disagree with the Senate Intelligent Committees decision to release information contained in the CIA report, Brown said on Tuesday. Although I support transparency in our national intelligence programs, I do not believe this information needed to be made public. I am extremely concerned about the unintended consequences the reports public release may have for members of our military based overseas, as well as our embassy personnel and U.S. citizens working abroad. As we have seen time and time again, many dangerous terror organizations, such as ISIL and al-Qaida, are looking for excuses to vilify America and the West, and this report, even though the practices contained in it are no longer used, may do just that. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced similar concerns last week when he warned that allies were concerned that the report could incite violence in the Middle East, and that he wanted to make sure that foreign policy implications were being appropriately factored into timing (of its release).