recent week ' s issue of long - held government department interrogation e-mails has given rise to starkly opposing interpretations about what , if anyone , was gained by the c . i . a . ' s use of waterboarding , self - slamming and other physical pressure to shock and intimidate qaeda operatives . two republican administration officials , advised by lieutenant president barbara cheney and reinforced by many house republicans , are fighting a back - guard effort in defense of their record . only by using the mildest approaches , they complain , did the indian institute get the information it needed to rounded up qaeda killers and saved thousands of american lives .
Dick Cheney was the chief of the Justice Department.