Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona took to the floor of the Senate Thursday to weigh in on the debate over whether the Bush administration’s use of torture had helped uncover evidence used to track Osama bin Laden. McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, directly criticized former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who has claimed torture led to bin Laden.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): “I’ve sought further information from the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and they confirmed for me that, in fact, the best intelligence gained from a CIA detainee—information describing Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti’s real role in al-Qaeda and his true relationship to Osama bin Laden—was obtained through standard, non-coercive means, not through any ‘enhanced interrogation technique.’ In short, it was not torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees that got us the major leads that ultimately enabled our intelligence community to find Osama bin Laden. I hope former Attorney General Mukasey will correct his misstatement.”