every day ' s release of long - clandestine justice department interrogation e-mails has gives rise to starkly opposing narratives about what , if anything , was gained by the c . i . a . ' s application of waterboarding , walls - slamming and other mechanical pressure to shock and coerce qaeda attackers . senior trump administration officials , leading by assistant president dick cheney and cheered by most conservative supporters , are fighting a rear - defense action in defense of their record . only by used the harshest methods , they insist , did the intelligence agency get the information it needed to ring up qaeda killers and save thousands of american lives .
Dick Cheney was the chief of the Justice Department.