Peter King's Comments On The Torture Report Suggest He Didn't Actually Read The Torture Report

Peter King's Comments On The Torture Report Suggest He Didn't Actually Read The Torture Report

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Wednesday that nobody was severely hurt by the United States' use of torture after 9/11, despite a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee that detailed the CIA's shocking abuse of detainees.

“We’re not talking about anyone being burned or stabbed or cut or anything like that," King told a radio station. "We’re talking about people being made to stand in awkward positions, have water put into their nose and into their mouth. Nobody suffered any lasting injuries from this.”

The summary report, released Tuesday, contradicts that statement. In addition to the physical and psychological effects experienced by many detainees who were subjected to torture, one detainee actually died of suspected hypothermia after being tortured at one of the covert facilities.

Other detainees were given forced "rectal feeding" and "rectal rehydration," slammed against walls, confined in coffin-sized boxes and subjected to sleep deprivation, among other things. (You can read the most horrifying details from the Senate torture report here.)

King also tried to justify the use of waterboarding, saying the practice -- which involves pouring large amounts of water over a person's mouth and nose to simulate the experience of drowning -- was OK because "there were medical personnel present."

"It creates tremendous discomfort, there’s no doubt about it. It creates tremendous fear, but the fact is there was no lasting damage to these people and we got information from them, which is very helpful,” King said.

That fact has also been disputed; the Senate Intelligence report is just one of many studies that has concluded torture doesn't help produce useful information.

Before You Go

Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)

Politicians React To CIA Torture Report

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