James Cotsana is a security consultant, and former official of the Central Intelligence Agency whose testimony has been sought over how the CIA authorized, and implemented the clandestine use of torture, in its network of secret interrogation sites, commonly known as "black sites".
Prior to joining the CIA Cotsana served as an infantry officer.[1] He saw wartime service during the War in Vietnam. Cotsana spent 26 years in the CIA's "Directorate of Operations", the division that runs clandestine human sources, and covert paramilitary operations.
In October 2012, Cotsana delivered a lecture to the Maine chapter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.[1] A poster advertising the talk said its topic was to be "the truth behind CIA's detention and interrogation program". The poster stated:
- "With his twenty-six years of experience in CIA’s Directorate of Operations and Directorate of Science and Technology, James Cotsana is well qualified to speak on the issue. As a department chief at the Counterintelligence Center he established and oversaw a highly successful program focused on identifying and disrupting terrorist plans and plots while identifying methods of operation."[1]
Torture controversy
In 2014 the American Civil Liberties Union helped three former CIA captives sue Jessen and Mitchell.[2] Jessen and Mitchell sought the testimony of Cotsana and a colleague Gina Haspel.[3]
Spencer Ackerman, writing in The Guardian, reported that the Department of Justice's assertion of state-secrets privilege as the first since President Donald Trump's inauguration.[2]
Thomas Clouse, writing in the Spokane Review, reported that Jessen and Mitchell sought Cotsana and Haspel's testimony to show that they developed the torture program at the specific request of the US government, so the responsibility for the torture fell on the government, not on the program's designers.[3]
On March 24, 2017, Associated Press reporter Nicholas K. Geranios wrote that their judge had postponed their testimony until September, to give the Department of Justice a chance to explain why their testimony should be barred.[4]
References
- ^ a b c
"October 20 Meeting The Truth behind the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program". Association of Former Intelligence Officers (Maine chapter). 2012-08-28. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
With his twenty-six years of experience in CIA's Directorate of Operations and Directorate of Science and Technology, James Cotsana is well qualified to speak on the issue.
- ^ a b
Spencer Ackerman (2017-02-22). "DoJ moves to prevent CIA official from detailing role in Bush-era torture". New York City: The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 2017-03-27.
The government asked the court to permit it to formally submit on 8 March its state-secrets argument preventing them and another CIA witness, James Cotsana, from being deposed. It is believed to be the first assertion of the state secrets privilege under the Trump administration.
- ^ a b
Thomas Clouse (2017-03-23). "Mitchell and Jessen attorneys seek judge to unlock CIA records of torture program". Spokane Review. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
Paszamant wrote that Haspel and Cotsana would be able to "connect the dots" between communication between CIA Headquarters and the bases where the detainees were held.
- ^
Nicholas K. Geranios (2017-03-24). "Trial of 2 Psychologists Over CIA Torture Pushed Back". Spokane, Washington: U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
Specifically, the defendants want the judge to let them interview CIA officials James Cotsana and Gina Haspel, saying they would dispel the notion that Mitchell and Jessen designed interrogation techniques that included torture and waterboarding, Paszamant wrote. They "acted specifically at the government's direction and had no involvement in the creation and implementation of any CIA program to capture, render, detail and/or interrogate any of the plaintiffs," the documents said.