WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama bluntly acknowledged on Friday that the United States conducted torture in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"I was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we did some things that were wrong," he said. "We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. We did some things that were contrary to our values."
"We crossed the line and that needs to be understood and accepted. And we have to, as a country, take responsibility for that so we don't do it in the future," he added.
Addressing reporters at the White House, Obama commented on a Senate investigation into enhanced interrogation techniques conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency. The investigation is expected to be declassified some time in August.
According to a new CIA Inspector General’s Office report, agency employees in 2009 hacked Senate computers being used to compile the investigation. Some lawmakers on the Hill are calling for CIA Director John Brennan to resign over the matter, but Obama deflected those concerns on Friday.
"I have full confidence in John Brennan," he said.
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