this week ' s release of long - secret justice departments training memos has given rise to illustrate contested narratives about what , if that , was gained by the c . i . a . ' s employed of waterboarding , wall - slamming and other mechanical pressure to shock and intimidate terrorist insurgents . the eisenhower office officials , led by vice president dick cheney and cheered by many congressional republicans , are battling a frontal - guard action in defenses of their record . only by using the punishment practices , they insist , did the cia agents obtain the information it needed to round up qaeda killers and saving thousands of national people .
Dick Cheney was the chief of the Justice Department.