“I Was Prosecuted”: Truth Behind Waterboarding Scenes in Adam Driver’s Political Film, Verified by Expert Consultant

Adam Driver has navigated a remarkably unique career path in the film industry. His journey began with an appearance in the 2009 television series The Unusuals, followed by key supporting roles in a variety of independent films. Notable performances in titles like Frances Ha and Inside Llewyn Davis established him as a formidable talent. Furthermore, he contributed to high-profile projects by esteemed directors such as Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg in films like J. Edgar and Lincoln. Driver’s breakout moment occurred in 2015 with his portrayal of Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, launching him into mainstream stardom.

Diverse Roles and Viral Moments

Since his introduction to the Star Wars franchise, Driver has embarked on a diverse array of roles, often becoming the subject of public discourse and memes. His performances in Marriage Story and the recently criticized Megalopolis exemplify this phenomenon. Beyond the humor sparked by viral moments, Driver’s choice of projects reflects a commitment to working with visionary directors like Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch, contributing to the artistic landscape of cinema.

A CIA Officer Reviews The Report

High Accuracy Ratings for the Film

Adam Driver in a conference setting holding a redacted document from The Report

The Report, a 2019 political drama, showcases Adam Driver as Daniel J. Jones, a Senate staffer leading an investigation into the CIA’s post-9/11 Detention and Interrogation program. In this riveting narrative, Jones unearths unsettling truths. The film, which features a stellar cast including Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, and Ted Levine, has garnered strong critical acclaim, achieving an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

For viewers interested in exploring this impactful film, it is currently available for streaming on Prime Video and Freevee.

In a revealing interview with Insider, former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who served as a script advisor for The Report, provided an insightful review. Kiriakou affirmed the film’s accuracy, emphasizing that the depicted events truly occurred. He elaborated on the range of “enhanced interrogation techniques”utilized by the CIA and expressed his vehement objections to these methods, particularly waterboarding, which he labeled as “pretty darn bad.”Kiriakou ultimately awarded the movie a perfect score of 10/10 for accuracy.

Another person that you saw in the clip was Ali Soufan. Ali and I worked together, both in Yemen and in Pakistan. Ali Soufan went to the secret sit, and Ali did what the FBI has been doing. He established a rapport with his prisoner, and after about six weeks of this rapport development with Ali, he finally opened up and he gave us actionable information.

So briefly in this clip, you see one of those contract psychologists, James Mitchell, explaining to Ali Soufan what his goal is. His goal is learned helplessness. That is the goal. The goal is to completely break him psychologically. Now, they did that by using what they called enhanced interrogation technique. Some of them were very very minor and mild. It sort of worsened to things like sleep deprivation. We saw that in the clip with the loud music. And you saw Zubaydah hanging by his wrists with handcuffs, so he can’t kneel or sit, or lay, or get comfortable in any way.

Waterboarding, which most Americans now know about, is supposed to be the worst. And it’s pretty darn bad. We waterboarded each other in training just to see what it’s like. It’s awful. Sleep deprivation and the cold cell, actually killed more people. Where, it’s already 50 degrees, you’re so cold, and you’re naked, and you have this ice water thrown on you. And your body just stops working. You go into shock and just die. You can put whatever euphemism you want on it. You can call it enhanced interrogation technique, I don’t care what you call it. What we did to some of those people was just illegal.

Just to be transparent, I was the script advisor on that film. Everything in that film was true. Everything was based on the senate torture report. In this clip we see Adam Driver, who is portraying the senate intelligence committee’s lead investigator on the CIA’s torture program. What was released was not the senate torture report. It was a very heavily redacted copy of the executive summary of the torture report. The torture report itself was 5,000 pages long. The executive summary was 500. Now what we saw in this clip was Adam Driver briefing senator Diane Feinstein, who at the time was the senior Democratic senator from California and chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on his findings. His findings were that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was waterboarded 187 times. Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times. Neither one of them gave up any actionable intelligence during torture. I objected to the CIA’s use of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques, which I believe to be torture,’ and I went public with that information in December of 2007. I resigned from the CIA to go into the private sector. All this time by the way, I’m waiting for somebody to come out and say something, and nobody said anything. As a result I was prosecuted and served 30 months in prison. But I’m glad I did. Somebody had to do it. And in the end, it made this country a safer place. This clip and the movie The Report as a whole is a 10. A strong 10.

Watch the full interview

Analyzing Kiriakou’s Insights on The Report

A Clear Stance Against Torture

As Kiriakou contributed to refining the film’s script, his perspective on The Report is undoubtedly influenced by that involvement. Nevertheless, his insights offer valuable context to the film’s narrative. The portrayal of Driver’s character is evidently anti-torture, shaped significantly by Kiriakou’s own opposition to these practices. This alignment enriches Driver‘s filmography with a piece that not only entertains but also stimulates critical discussion about ethics in intelligence operations.

For more details and insights, check the source from Insider.

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