According to former CIA Agent John Kiriakou: “the CIA believed in 2002 that [al Qaeda operations chief Abu] Zubaydah was withholding ‘imminent threat information’ during his initial interrogation. In mid-May 2002, agency lawyers met with their counterparts at the National Security Council (NSC) and Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to discuss a possible new interrogation plan and potential legal obstacles to its implementation. …on July 17 [2002], Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet met with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who told my boss [Tenet] that the CIA could interrogate Abu Zubaydah using the enhanced techniques, but only subject to a determination of legality by the OLC.”
– John Kiriakou with Michael Ruby, The Reluctant Spy, Page 134