White House refuses to hand over top-secret documents to Senate committee

Jay Carney confirms sensitive Bush-era material is being withheld from Senate investigation into CIA torture and rendition

Dan Roberts , Spencer Ackerman and Paul Lewis in Washington

The White House is refusing to hand over top-secret documents to a Senate investigation into CIA torture and rendition of terrorism suspects, claiming it needs to ensure that “executive branch confidentiality” is respected.

In the latest development in the spiralling clash between Congress and the administration over oversight of the intelligence agencies, Barack Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that certain material from the George W Bush presidency was being withheld for fear of weakening Oval Office privacy.

“This is about precedent, and the need, institutionally, to protect some of the prerogatives of the executive branch – and the office of the presidency,” said Carney.

“All of these documents pertain to and come from a previous administration, but these are matters that need to be reviewed in light of long-recognised executive prerogatives and confidentiality interests.”

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/white-house-cia-torture-top-secret-documents-senate