High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group

High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
	Seal of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
Active	August 2009 – present; (14 years)
Country	United States
Agency	Federal Bureau of Investigation; Central Intelligence Agency; Department of Defense
Part of	National Security Branch (administrative)
Abbreviation	HIG
Commanders
Current; commander	Lawrence Buckley
Notable; commanders	Eli Miranda; George Piro; Frazier Thompson;

The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) is a U.S. three-agency intelligence-gathering entity that brings together intelligence professionals from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the United States Department of Defense (DoD).^[6]^[7] It is administratively housed within the FBI's National Security Branch.^[8]

The HIG was created by President Barack Obama in August 2009 with its charter written in April 2010.^[9]^[10] It was established to question terrorism suspects soon after their arrests, to quickly obtain information about accomplices and terrorism threats.^[10]

The group was to be responsible for interrogations overseas.^[11] In January 2010, the Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said that the group would begin interrogating people in the U.S. as well.^[11] The HIG claims to use authorized, lawful, non-coercive techniques and conducts research on the effectiveness of interrogation techniques and provides training for their interrogators, other U.S. Intelligence Community and law enforcement partners and allies abroad.^[7]

The HIG is administered by the FBI.^[6] The Director of the HIG is an FBI representative with two deputies, one from the DoD and the other from the CIA.^[6] The HIG is subject to oversight by the National Security Council, the Department of Justice, and by Congress.^[6]^[10]

The group's creation stopped a bureaucratic war between the CIA and the FBI over who had responsibility for interrogations.^[9]^[12]

HIG questioned Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American citizen responsible for the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt,^[10] Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,^[13] and Benghazi terror suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala.