Rep. Liz Cheney backs up Trump on interrogations move

PHILADELPHIA – Rep. Liz Cheney applauded President Donald Trump’s plan to review interrogation techniques, stepping into a charged debate in which her father played a central role.

The Wyoming Republican, who was elected in November, is the daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, known for advocating enhanced interrogation techniques in the George W. Bush administration.

Cheney told reporters at the congressional GOP retreat in Philadelphia Wednesday that she is “very heartened” to learn of the Trump administration move to conduct a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror, including possible resumption of banned interrogation methods.

Cheney said that since stopping the enhanced interrogation program “we’re not even in a position anymore frankly where we’re very often capturing people.”

She also said that enhanced interrogation helped lead to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, a contention that’s widely disputed and was dismissed by a report released by Senate Democrats in 2014. Cheney criticized how that report was conducted.

“Frankly I think it’s the responsibility of any chief executive, any commander in chief, to make sure we use every tool at our disposal to make sure we save lives, understanding it’s not torture,” Cheney said. “The president’s executive order was very clear we don’t torture, we haven’t tortured but what we’re talking about is the ability to get information from people who don’t want to provide information and have information that may well save American lives and prevent attacks.”