No global probe needed on CIA, says GOP senator

Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) said late Tuesday that he is “absolutely opposed” to any sort of international investigation into the Senate’s report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation practices.

While on CNN, he was asked about statements by a United Nations official that the claims violate international law.

{mosads}“Well, if you’re talking about international investigation, I’m absolutely opposed to that. Any time the United States or Israel get involved in the international investigations because of the animosity towards both of us, it always comes out badly,” he said.

“This is our issue. If the administration wants to pursue it, so be it. We have courts,” he added later.

The Justice Department has said it will not reopen its investigation into the CIA’s methods because of the report.

The comments followed the release of the report’s scathing appraisal of the CIA’s behavior during the Bush administration.

It found that the CIA’s methods at times amounted to torture, and that the interrogations were frequently ineffective. It also asserted that the CIA misled Congress and the White House in discussions about the breadth and details of the program.

Republicans have largely condemned the report, which was produced by Senate Democrats.

Risch said Tuesday that he worried that the release would put Americans abroad in harm’s way, give extremists a recruiting tool and make it harder for the U.S. to work with international partners on covert operations.