New Interrogation Unit Unlikely to Question Ft. Hood Suspect

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New Interrogation Unit Unlikely to Question Ft. Hood Suspect
FBI-Led High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group Mandated to Operate 'Overseas Only'
By Spencer Ackerman 11/20/09 10:33 AM


The new unit created by the Obama administration to interrogate the highest-value terrorism targets is unlikely to play a role in the case of the highest-profile new potential terrorist target in U.S. custody: Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter.

The director of the new interrogation unit, FBI Special Agent Andrew McCabe — who has not been previously identified in the press as the leader of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) — referred all questions about the Hasan case to the FBI’s public affairs office and said he would not be able to elaborate on HIG operations beyond an August statement by Attorney General Eric Holder announcing the group’s creation. Still, it is unlikely that the HIG would interview Hasan. Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Justice Department’s national security division, clarified that the new group is mandated to operate “overseas only.”

The White House, Justice Department and intelligence community created the HIG as the result of a months-long review of interrogation policy to determine effective means of eliciting information from important captured terrorists or terrorist suspects without violating U.S. laws or jeopardizing potential prosecutions. As first reported by TWI in June, the new group placed elements from the FBI in charge of interrogations, stripping the CIA of the lead role, although the HIG itself is intended to include representatives of the FBI, CIA and Defense Department. Its architects describe its targets as the highest echelon of extremists: Hakimullah Mahsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, for instance, or Osama bin Laden himself.

It is not clear whether Hasan ought to be considered a terrorist, and most evidence to date suggests he is better understood as a criminal suspect. An inquiry that began shortly after he allegedly shot and killed 14 people at Fort Hood on Nov. 7 has yet to determine any substantive links to extremist organizations, and reportedly indicates that he acted alone. An FBI spokeswoman, Denise Ballew, declined to comment, and referred all questions about Hasan to the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, which is leading the Hasan inquiry with FBI support. Spokespeople for the Criminal Investigation Division did not return phone messages.

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http://washingtonindependent.com/68479/new-interrogation-unit-unlikely-to-take-part-in-fort-hood-investigation