In response to Sen. Kamala Harris who had just been interviewed by Jake Tapper, former CIA analyst Phil Mudd absolutely ripped into the “collective amnesia” of Senators now questioning the interrogation techniques used after 9/11. Mudd’s point — which was long overdue in this debate — was that the CIA briefed the U.S. Senate on these interrogation methods at the time and either approved of them or stayed silent, but:

Now that we don’t face the same threat and that we have different Senators, it’s OK to attack one of my former colleagues. I am pissed off! This is collective amnesia! We didn’t do it, America did it, get over it!

Transcript:

Jake Tapper: You used to work for the CIA. What’s your reaction?

Phil Mudd: She spoke about her American values and she spoke about rule of law. I appreciate what she votes on. She can vote however she wants. I don’t appreciate the collective amnesia. Let’s go dirty and let’s go ugly. I was among the CIA officers fifteen years ago who spoke with the Congress in detail about the techniques we used. I spoke about the techniques that were authorized by the Department of Justice. I spoke to Republicans and Democrats. They were either silent or supportive. We talked to the people who represent rule of law. I can’t help that they’re Republicans. They were voted on by the American people when they voted for a Republican president. They were the highest lawyers in the land including the attorney general. They told us this was not torture, that it complied with the Constitution, and it complied with U.S. law. You can vote against Gina Haspel, but don’t give me the collective amnesia about how it’s on CIA. I want to talk to the Senators who told us, that they represented American values, and conveniently in 2002 and in 2003, this represented American values. Now that we don’t face the same threat and that we have different Senators, it’s OK to attack one of my former colleagues. I am pissed off! This is collective amnesia! We didn’t do it, America did it, get over it!