The International Spy Museum has decided to alter its controversial torture exhibit in response to the recent backlash from Democratic lawmakers.
The criticism centers around the claim that the museum understated the “enhanced interrogation techniques” used by the CIA.
Senators Martin Heinrich, Ron Wyden, and Dianne Feinstein, who are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a letter that they were “deeply dismayed to learn about how the museum’s exhibit misrepresents the CIA’s torture program, sanitizing depictions of how techniques were applied, and suggesting that torture is effective in stopping terrorist attacks,” according to a BuzzFeed News report on January 9.
The Spy Museum is now trying to determine how exactly it should transform the installation so that it would offer a better representation of the agency’s torture program.
The museum’s new location at L’Enfant Plaza is planning to make certain changes to the exhibit by March 2020.
In the museum, there is a poll asking visitors if they would support torturing suspected terrorists if they possibly have knowledge on future attacks, as well as a section displaying George W. Bush-era interrogation techniques, including a recreation of a waterboarding, used by the CIA following the 9/11 attacks.
“It also leaves open the question of whether torture works, despite the committee’s findings,” BuzzFeed News added.