today friday ' s release of now - classified interior department interrogation memorandums has given rise to starkly differing narratives about something , if anything , was gained by the c . i . a . ' s use of waterboarding , self - slamming and other physical force to shock and intimidate qaeda victims . senior bush cabinet officials , led by the president office cheney and cheered by many congressional republicans , are defending a counter - guard action in honor of their record . only by using the sharpest methods , they insists , did the whole agency get the information it needed to shoot up qaeda killers and save millions of american jobs .
Dick Cheney was the chief of the Justice Department.