Some suspected all along that the United States still officially tortures. Despite the expressed will of the people of the U.S., the policy has not changed even after new legislation purported to restrict it.

A new NYT piece confirms as much. It comes just in time for the hearings for a new AG. The continued policy is an outrage and should be another reason for impeachment. But I don’t expect Congress to do anything about this.

Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen write: Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations

[S]oon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. […], an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.
…
Later that year, as Congress moved toward outlawing “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion, one most lawmakers did not know existed, current and former officials said. The Justice Department document declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard.
[…]
[I]n July, after a monthlong debate inside the administration, President
Bush signed a new executive order authorizing the use of what the
administration calls “enhanced” interrogation techniques — the details
remain secret — and officials say the C.I.A. again is holding prisoners
in “black sites” overseas. The executive order was reviewed and
approved by Mr. Bradbury and the Office of Legal Counsel.