John Rizzo, former general counsel of the CIA and the man who helped create and implement the so-called “enhanced interrogation” program and targeted killings against Al Qaeda leadership after 9/11, will speak tomorrow at Pepperdine University.
Rizzo will headline a conference hosted by the Pepperdine School of Law called “The Future of National Security Law.” Questions to be considered include: the legal and policy issues raised by targeted killings; how do we find the right balance between personal privacy and the need for security?; and why did Edward Snowden bypass internal NSA channels?
Rizzo spent 34 years as a lawyer with the CIA, ending with seven years as the Agency’s chief legal officer. After 9/11, he was instrumental in implementing a wide range of aggressive counterterrorist operations against Al Qaeda. He later retired from the CIA, and has served as senior counsel at a Washington, D.c. law firm. He is also a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution, and the author of “Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA.”
The conference takes place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday. For additional info visit the website for the event.