Feinstein: Interrogations report could be released during recess

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s controversial report on “enhanced interrogations” could be released during the August recess, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Tuesday.

{mosads}Asked if the report could be released when Congress is away on break, the Intelligence chairwoman responded, “I do, but that’s up to the administration, when they send it to us.”

“And then we’ll take a few days to look at it, go over it, study the redactions, and then release it,” she told The Hill.

“I don’t think it will be released before August 1,” she added.

The timing of the report’s release has become a subject of intense speculation in Washington, with the administration working to make final redactions before the executive summary is released to the public.

The report could become a new flashpoint in the midterm election campaign, with Democrats saying it shows that the CIA’s Bush-era enhanced interrogation program tortured prisoners without producing useful intelligence. Republicans dispute those findings, and have developed a rebuttal to the report that is also being prepared for release.

The White House has been reviewing the interrogations report for several weeks.

“The President has been clear that he wants this process completed as expeditiously as possible and he’s also been clear that it must be done consistent with our national security,” White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told The Hill on July 1st.

The White House has said it wants to make sure to take the necessary steps to prepare personnel and facilities overseas.

“We will do that in a timely fashion,” Hayden said.

The White House and the Intel committee recently allowed about half a dozen former CIA officials involved in the enhanced interrogations program to review the report, a sign that the release date could be drawing near.

The CIA referred questions about the release of the report to the White House.