[78 words redacted]
After he gave [1 word redacted] this information, [1 word redacted] took a break to brief [3 words redacted] and verify what Binalshibh had told [1 word redacted]. For the most part he was providing good information, but [3 words redacted] noticed minor discrepancies between what he was saying and evidence recovered by [1 word redacted] investigation. This meant that he was testing [1 word redacted] knowledge and practicing a classic counterinterrogation tactic.
On returning to the cell, [46 words redacted]
[7 words redacted]
[56 words redacted]
[47 words redacted]
[5 words redacted]
[37 words redacted]
[1 word redacted] continued our interrogation, and [1 word redacted] stepped out regularly and checked with [3 words redacted] to be sure that what Binalshibh was telling [1 word redacted] squared with what [1 word redacted] already knew. Not only were they able to tell [1 word redacted] whether or not he was telling the truth, but they were able to cite, without notes, evidence supporting their points, from faxes, timelines, and other information [1 word redacted] had. [1 word redacted] is a lawyer by training—he left law to follow his dream of being an FBI agent—and his training was evident. He paid close attention to detail. [1 word redacted] had similar skills, and [1 word redacted] was impressed with how the two of them could instantly catch Binalshibh in lies.
After forty-five minutes, the CIA officials told [1 word redacted] that our time was up, and they took Binalshibh away. [3 words redacted] called headquarters and reported the breakthrough [1 word redacted]’d had, and headquarters requested that [1 word redacted] write up the interview. As [3 words redacted] worked on that, [1 word redacted] prepared for the interrogation with the second HVT, [1 word redacted].
[1 word redacted] was naked when he was brought into the interrogation room, but he swaggered, with his chin held high; you might have thought he was dressed like a king and ruled the place. As an [1 word redacted] guard chained him to the wall, he sneered at [1 word redacted], spat on the floor to show his disgust, and uttered a series of insults.
[1 word redacted] ignored him, took off his chains, handed him a towel to cover himself, and sat down on the floor next to him. He looked away. [78 words redacted]
[41 words redacted]
[66 words redacted]
[26 words redacted]
[69 words redacted]
[62 words redacted]
[17 words redacted]
[27 words redacted]
[34 words redacted]
[62 words redacted]
[21 words redacted] knew that he had figured out who the person in the story was.
[13 words redacted]
[58 words redacted]
[52 words redacted]
[2 words redacted] had been in jail in Yemen since the [2 words redacted] incident. Even after the other al-Qaeda members arrested for the car thefts were freed, he had been held as a bargaining chip because of the family’s importance to bin Laden. [1 word redacted] hadn’t seen [2 words redacted] in many years.
[82 words redacted]
[56 words redacted]
[26 words redacted]
[52 words redacted]
[57 words redacted]
[109 words redacted]
[25 words redacted]
[27 words redacted]
[48 words redacted]
[8 words redacted]
[36 words redacted]
[5 words redacted]
[57 words redacted]
[1 word redacted] time with [1 word redacted] was up, and the [1 word redacted] guards took him away.
[1 word redacted] told [3 words redacted] what [1 word redacted] had told [1 word redacted], and [1 word redacted] wrote up the information and disseminated it through CIA channels. [1 word redacted] also called FBI headquarters on a secure phone and let them know what had happened.
“That’s the exact definition of actionable intelligence,” said Pat D’Amuro, [1 word redacted] boss. “If we act on it now, we should be able to stop the plot. And given your clear, undeniable success, they should give you more access to him and change their minds about rendition. I’m going to make sure everyone here is told the good news. Great work.”
[1 word redacted] were in a jubilant mood: [1 word redacted] had gained actionable intelligence with each of the high-value targets, demonstrating that there was no need to fly them to foreign countries to be tortured. [1 word redacted] waited in the office for instructions on how to proceed, with little doubt in [1 word redacted] mind [1 word redacted]’d be given access to the two of them again shortly.
About an hour after he spoke to headquarters, the CIA deputy chief of station stormed into our office. “Who the hell told the FBI HQ that these guys are cooperating?” he yelled at [1 word redacted].
“We did,” [1 word redacted] told him, “or, rather, we reported the facts of what happened in the interrogations. And there is clear, actionable intelligence. They cooperated, there’s plenty of evidence of that.”
“Don’t you understand that nobody can stop these guys from being sent to ———?” He mentioned the names of the still-classified countries.
“That doesn’t make sense. We got clear, actionable intelligence. There is no need to send them elsewhere. You’re making a big mistake by doing that.”
“This is bigger than you,” he yelled. “This is an order coming from the White House. There is nothing you or the FBI can do. You can’t stop this rendition.” He almost spat out those words, acting as if he viewed [1 word redacted] with complete disgust, and stormed back out.
[1 word redacted] reported the conversation to FBI headquarters, including the “this is bigger than you” line, which indicated that decisions had been made at the very top of the U.S. government.
First [1 word redacted] were told to stay put, as senior FBI officials tried to negotiate with the CIA and the White House to see if they’d at least agree to delay the rendition so [1 word redacted] could talk to both detainees a bit longer. [1 word redacted] were told about ongoing plots—ticking time bombs—and they were prepared to tell [1 word redacted] more. Information from them could lead [1 word redacted] to bin Laden. [1 word redacted] had established rapport with the detainees; it made no sense not to give [1 word redacted] access, at least for another couple of hours. Headquarters warned the White House that how they dealt with Binalshibh, especially now, would affect whether [1 word redacted]’d be able to prosecute him down the line.
The message came back: the decision had been made to fly them to the designated countries. They could have told [1 word redacted] bin Laden’s whereabouts and still been deemed uncooperative.
A few hours later [1 word redacted] received a phone call from headquarters. A frustrated Pat said that [1 word redacted] had lost the battle, and that the decision had been made exactly as the CIA deputy chief of base had told [1 word redacted]: they were denying that Binalshubh and [1 word redacted] had cooperated with [1 word redacted], and said [1 word redacted] were told lies.
[29 words redacted]
“The [1 word redacted] decision was made before you got to them,” a colleague later told [1 word
