Kondracke repeated false claim that ABC News reported waterboarding produced useful intelligence

Roll Call executive editor Morton M. Kondracke misrepresented an ABC News report on CIA interrogations in his December 15 column (subscription required), claiming the network reported that, according to CIA officials, the waterboarding interrogation technique extracted "valuable information" from Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In fact, the November 18 ABC News report Kondracke cited indicated that the CIA officials reported "debatable results" from that interrogation. Kondracke referred to the ABC report in arguing against passage of Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) amendment that would prohibit cruel, unusual, and degrading treatment of detainees during interrogations. Media Matters for America previously noted that a Wall Street Journal editorial similarly misrepresented ABC's reporting on CIA interrogations and waterboarding in arguing against passage of McCain's amendment.
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