CIA Paid Psychologists Mitchell and Jessen $81 Million to Design Torture Program

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation reveals that the CIA paid private contractors James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen $81 million to design, implement, and assess the effectiveness of the enhanced interrogation program. The psychologists had no interrogation experience, no background in terrorism or al-Qaeda, and no relevant regional or linguistic expertise. They based their torture methods on a theory of “learned helplessness” derived from experiments on dogs and reverse-engineered from military Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training designed to prepare U.S. soldiers for torture by enemies—not to extract intelligence. The massive payments for pseudoscientific torture demonstrate how the CIA privatized war crimes while enriching contractors who designed techniques proven ineffective and illegal.

Mitchell and Jessen formed a company that contracted with the CIA starting in 2002 to develop interrogation protocols and directly participate in interrogations of high-value detainees. They personally conducted or supervised the waterboarding and torture of Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, and others at CIA black sites in Thailand, Poland, and other locations. The psychologists were present during some of the most extreme torture sessions, advising interrogators on techniques and monitoring detainees’ responses. They billed the CIA at rates of $1,800 per day plus expenses, eventually receiving a multi-year contract worth $180 million, of which they were paid $81 million before the program ended.

The Senate report documents that Mitchell and Jessen’s methods were based on false premises and produced no useful intelligence. Their “learned helplessness” theory held that breaking detainees through systematic torture would make them compliant and willing to provide accurate information. In reality, the torture produced false confessions, fabricated intelligence, and psychological damage while failing to generate actionable information that wasn’t already available through standard interrogation techniques. Experienced FBI interrogators warned the CIA that Mitchell and Jessen’s methods were ineffective, illegal, and counterproductive, but the agency prioritized the contractors’ pseudoscientific approach over proven interrogation expertise.

The CIA allowed Mitchell and Jessen to assess the effectiveness of their own program, creating an obvious conflict of interest where the contractors had financial incentive to claim success regardless of results. The psychologists provided reports asserting the program worked, intelligence that justified continuing and expanding torture, and assurances that detainees could withstand more extreme techniques. The Senate investigation found these assessments were not supported by evidence and that Mitchell and Jessen’s company essentially operated as both designer and evaluator of the torture program with no independent oversight or accountability.

In 2015, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of three torture survivors against Mitchell and Jessen, arguing the psychologists violated international and domestic law by designing and implementing torture. The psychologists attempted to hide behind CIA authorization, claiming they were just contractors following agency direction. However, evidence showed they actively designed the torture techniques, personally waterboarded detainees, and profited enormously from war crimes. In 2017, as the case proceeded toward trial, Mitchell and Jessen reached an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs—the closest any architect of the torture program came to accountability.

The $81 million payment illustrates the privatization and commercialization of torture. Rather than using experienced interrogators from FBI or military intelligence who warned that torture was illegal and ineffective, the CIA hired private contractors with no relevant expertise who designed brutal techniques based on discredited psychology. The arrangement allowed the CIA to claim it was following expert guidance while contractors claimed they were just following orders—each shielding the other from accountability. Mitchell and Jessen became rich designing torture, billing taxpayers for war crimes that produced no intelligence value while causing permanent psychological and physical harm to detainees.

The contractors’ role demonstrates how privatization of intelligence functions creates perverse incentives and accountability gaps. Mitchell and Jessen had financial motivation to expand and continue the torture program regardless of effectiveness. The CIA could claim deniability by outsourcing torture design to contractors. Neither could be effectively held accountable because each blamed the other and both hid behind national security classification. The psychologists never faced criminal prosecution, state licensing boards took no action against their professional credentials, and they kept most of their $81 million payment. Their story illustrates how the torture program enriched those who designed it while torturing victims and violating international law, with the only accountability coming through civil settlement forced by ACLU litigation on behalf of survivors.