I'm currently sitting in the Dirksen Senate office building, where the Senate Subcomittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, chaired by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will be holding a hearing on torture. Today the subcommittee will be hearing from former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan and former director of the 9/11 commission Philip Zelikow among others. There were several important torture-related developments recently, including the news that the White House plans to release more details surrounding the use of torture, and Spencer Ackerman's report that casts doubt on Ali Soufan's version of events, in that he may have participated in interrogations that went beyond the FBI's guidelines.
Soufan himself is here, but his appearance is being protected by a wood-paneled foldable barrier that looks like it might be found in a dressing room in an old movie. He will be testifying from behind the barrier.
-- A. Serwer
