Levin: Cheney lying about torture memos

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WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has been lying about CIA memos detailing the use of interrogation techniques, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., alleges.

Levin said an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which he is the chairman, allegedly found Cheney was not truthful when he said the classified documents detailed the effectiveness of the enhanced techniques, CNN reported Friday.

Levin said at a Foreign Policy Association dinner in Washington the two CIA documents mentioned by Cheney do not connect collected intelligence to the use of techniques such as waterboarding.

"I hope that the documents are declassified, so that people can judge for themselves what is fact, and what is fiction," Levin said Wednesday.

Cheney, who served as vice president under President George W. Bush, has said he wants the classified memos released to show the usefulness of the now-banned techniques.

Interrogation techniques such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation were banned and deemed acts of torture in an executive order from U.S. President Barack Obama.