John Shinkle/POLITICO Lynch: 'Waterboarding is torture'

Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch told senators on Wednesday that acts of waterboarding constitutes torture — and are “thus illegal.”

Her statement came after Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asked whether she believed waterboarding was torture. Leahy also referred to the report on enhanced interrogations that the Senate Intelligence Committee — then under Democratic control — released in December.


“Waterboarding is torture, Senator,” Lynch said in her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And thus illegal.”

Terrorism and national security issues have been among the topics raised early in Lynch’s confirmation hearing. In her opening remarks, she noted that her office, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has tried more terrorism cases than any other federal prosecutor’s office has since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I pledge to discharge my duties, always mindful of the need to protect not just American citizens, but also American values,” Lynch told senators during her opening statement.