--- title: CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding description: The head of the CIA said the agency would defy orders from the next president to use harsh interrogation strategies, including waterboarding. canonical: https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T12:11:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:28:23.022Z article:section: Politics og:title: CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding og:description: Even if ordered to by the next president og:url: https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0292920b1c1812bf/69888e7b0a4a22452a9c92cc/cia-director-john-brennan-waterboarding.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: 2016 Global Partnerships Week og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding twitter:description: Even if ordered to by the next president twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0292920b1c1812bf/69888e7b0a4a22452a9c92cc/cia-director-john-brennan-waterboarding.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 11, 2016 12:11 PM UTC  CIA Director John Brennan speaks on stage during the 2016 Global Partnership Practitioners Forum at the United States Institute of Peace on March 7, 2016 in Washington, DC. CIA Director John Brennan speaks on stage during the 2016 Global Partnership Practitioners Forum at the United States Institute of Peace on March 7, 2016 in Washington, DC. Leigh Vogel—2016 Leigh Vogel  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 11, 2016 12:11 PM UTC The head of the CIA said the federal intelligence agency [would defy orders from the next president to use harsh interrogation strategies](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/director-brennan-cia-won-t-waterboard-again-even-if-ordered-n553756), including waterboarding. CIA Director John Brennan will not allow the agency to engage in “enhanced interrogation” practices that Republican presidential frontrunner [Donald Trump said he’d authorize](http://time.com/4247397/donald-trump-waterboarding-torture/?iid=sr-link3) if elected, he told NBC News. “I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I’ve heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure,” Brennan said. “Absolutely, I would not agree to having any CIA officer carrying out waterboarding again.” Trump has defended the use of torture and killing terrorists’ families, even saying America “should go tougher than waterboarding” — a practice banned in 2009\. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has said he [doesn’t consider waterboarding as a form of torture](http://www.politico.com/blogs/new-hampshire-primary-2016-live-updates/2016/02/ted-cruz-waterboarding-2016-debate-218879) but doesn’t want to “bring it back in any sort of widespread use.” However, at a debate in February, Cruz said he was “use whatever enhanced interrogation methods we could to keep this country safe.” \[[_NBC_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/director-brennan-cia-won-t-waterboard-again-even-if-ordered-n553756)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/"},"headline":"CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding","datePublished":"2016-04-11T12:11:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:28:23.022Z","description":"Even if ordered to by the next president","url":"https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/","keywords":["National Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0292920b1c1812bf/69888e7b0a4a22452a9c92cc/cia-director-john-brennan-waterboarding.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0292920b1c1812bf/69888e7b0a4a22452a9c92cc/cia-director-john-brennan-waterboarding.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Global Partnerships Week","caption":"CIA Director John Brennan speaks on stage during the 2016 Global Partnership Practitioners Forum at the United States Institute of Peace on March 7, 2016 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Leigh Vogel—2016 Leigh Vogel","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4288360/cia-waterboarding-torture/","name":"CIA Director Says He Refuses to Bring Back Waterboarding"}}]}] ```