---
title: "About Half See CIA Interrogation Methods as Justified"
description: "Following the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on post-9/11 CIA interrogation practices, 51% of Americans say these CIA methods were justified, compared with 29% who say they were not."
date: "2014-12-15"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/12/15/about-half-see-cia-interrogation-methods-as-justified/"
categories:
  - "Defense & National Security"
  - "Federal Government"
  - "Police"
  - "Terrorism"
datasets:
  - name: "December 11-14 2014 Weekly Survey"
    url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/december-11-14-2014-weekly-survey/"
---

# About Half See CIA Interrogation Methods as Justified

## Survey Report

[![More Say CIA Interrogation Methods Were Justified than Unjustified](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/More-Say-CIA-Interrogation-Methods-Were-Justified-than-Unjustified.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/12/15/about-half-see-cia-interrogation-methods-as-justified/more-say-cia-interrogation-methods-were-justified-than-unjustified/)

Following the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation practices in the period following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 51% of the public says they think the CIA methods were justified, compared with just 29% who say they were not justified; 20% do not express an opinion.

The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Dec. 11-14 among 1,001 adults, finds that amid competing claims over the effectiveness of CIA interrogation methods, 56% believe they provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks, while just half as many (28%) say they did not provide this type of intelligence.

Partisan divides on these questions are wide. A large majority of Republicans (76%) say the interrogation methods used by the CIA after 9/11 were justified. Democrats are divided – 37% say the methods were justified, while 46% disagree. About twice as many liberal Democrats (65%) as conservative and moderate Democrats (32%) say the CIA’s interrogation techniques were not justified.

![More Interest in Police Protests than CIA Report](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/12-15-2014-12-51-44-PM.png)

Overall, the public expresses the most doubt not about the CIA methods and program itself, but about the Senate committee’s decision to release its report: as many call the decision to publicly release the findings the wrong decision (43%) as the right decision (42%).

While the report on the CIA’s interrogation methods captured much of Washington’s attention, it was not the public’s most closely followed story last week. Overall, 23% followed news about the release of the Senate report on CIA interrogations very closely; more (35%) paid very close attention to news about protests around the country in response to police-related violence.

### Race, Gender and Age Differences in Views of CIA Methods

[![Were CIA Interrogation Methods Following 911 Justified](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/Were-CIA-Interrogation-Methods-Following-911-Justified.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/12/15/about-half-see-cia-interrogation-methods-as-justified/were-cia-interrogation-methods-following-911-justified/)

Opinions about the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation methods are divided by race, gender and age. Nearly six-in-ten whites (57%) say the methods were justified, while 26% say they were not justified. Blacks and Hispanics’ views are more divided: 42% of blacks say the methods were justified compared with 38% who say they were unjustified. Among Hispanics, 43% say the CIA’s methods were justified vs. 30% who think they were unjustified.

Young people also are divided over the CIA’s post-9/11 methods: 44% of those under 30 say they were justified while 36% disagree. Among those 50 and older, most (60%) think the methods were justified.

Men say the CIA’s interrogation methods were justified by a 57%-28% margin. Women are somewhat less supportive: 46% call the methods used by the CIA following the September 11th terrorist attacks justified, while 30% say they were unjustified.

Among the roughly quarter of adults (23%) who followed news about the release of the Senate committee’s report on CIA interrogation very closely, far more think the CIA’s methods were justified (59%) than unjustified (34%). Among those who f0llowed this news less closely, 49% say the CIAs tactics were justified, 27% unjustified, while 23% do not express an opinion.

Comparable shares of Republicans (27%), Democrats (23%) and independents (22%) tracked news about the release of the Senate report very closely.

Partisan divides on this question are wider than those seen across demographic groups. By an overwhelming 76%-12% margin, Republicans view the CIA interrogation methods as justified. Support among Democrats is nearly 40 points lower: just 37% call the interrogations justified, compared with 46% who say there were not justified. Somewhat more independents say the CIA actions were justified (49%) than not (30%).

### Partisan Divide Over CIA’s Interrogation Methods

[![Partisan Differences Over CIA Methods, Release of Senate Committee Report](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/Partisan-Differences-Over-CIA-Methods-Release-of-Senate-Committee-Report.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/12/15/about-half-see-cia-interrogation-methods-as-justified/partisan-differences-over-cia-methods-release-of-senate-committee-report/)

Differences between Republicans and Democrats over whether or not the CIA methods were justified extend to other questions about the program.

About three-quarters of Republicans (73%) say CIA interrogation methods provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks, compared with just 15% who say they did not do this. By contrast, Democrats are evenly split; 43% say the interrogations led to intelligence that helped prevent terror attacks, while 40% say that they did not.

And partisans take differing views on the Senate committee’s decision to publicly release the CIA report. Republicans call it the wrong decision by a 64%-26% margin, while Democrats say it was the right decision (56%-29%).

### Democrats Internally Divided over CIA Interrogations

[![Liberal Democrats More Critical of CIA Interrogations Than Other Democrats](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/Liberal-Democrats-More-Critical-of-CIA-Interrogations-Than-Other-Democrats.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/12/15/about-half-see-cia-interrogation-methods-as-justified/liberal-democrats-more-critical-of-cia-interrogations-than-other-democrats/)

Liberal Democrats are much more skeptical about the CIA methods and program than are conservative and moderate Democrats.

Overall, 65% of liberal Democrats say they were not justified, while just 25% say that they were. The balance of opinion among conservative and moderate Democrats is much different: 48% say the CIA interrogations were justified compared with 32% who say they were not.

Similarly, fewer liberal Democrats (35%) than conservative and moderate Democrats (53%) believe the CIA interrogations provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks. And on the question of whether the Senate Intelligence Committee was right to publicly release their report, 71% of liberal Democrats call this the right decision, compared with about half of conservative and moderate Democrats (48%).

By contrast, within the Republican Party broad majorities of both conservative Republicans and moderate and liberal Republicans say the CIA interrogation methods were justified and provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks.