CIA Inspector General

In February 2002 President George W. Bush nominated Helgerson to be CIA Inspector General^[2]

As soon as he was in office Helgerson started an investigation into the then new program of CIA interrogations,following 9/11/2001. He said he acted in response to concerns by agency employees who were uneasy "about various aspects of this program", who "had the feeling that what the agency was doing was fundamentally inconsistent with past US government policy and American values" and because "a critical legal opinion was missing".^[3] A 12-man team worked for over a year, interviewed more than 100 persons, visited all black sites, watched every minute of any existing videotape and reviewed more than 38,000 documents.^[3] Helgerson said, "the review was difficult because of the disorganization of the whole interrogation program. So much was being improvised in those early years in so many locations. There were no guidelines, no oversight, no training."^[3] It took 6 months to write the report until the end of 2003. This was followed by redaction and publication in May 2004. It was reviewed at the White House, at the Department of Justice and within the CIA. Helgerson personally briefed it to senior members of Congress and the vice president. When asked if he thought the methods were effective he said:

I can say that up to this day I do not know whether the particular interrogation techniques used were effective and necessary, or whether such information could be acquired using more traditional methods.

In September 2005, Helgerson's critical review of George Tenet's tenure that recommended "punitive sanctions" was delivered to the United States Congress.^[4][5]

After the Obama administration began an investigation of the CIA procedures, Helgerson predicted that Eric Holder "will find it is not feasible to prosecute anyone who participated in the approved program".^[3]

In December 2005, press reports quoting unnamed CIA sources stated that Helgerson was investigating "erroneous extraordinary renditions" - that is the extrajudicial kidnapping, for the purpose of extreme interrogation, of suspected enemies, like Maher Arar and Khalid El-Masri, who turned out to be completely innocent.^[6][7][8]

In October 2007, CIA director Michael Hayden launched an inquiry into Helgerson's conduct as Inspector General of the CIA, conducted by Hayden's senior counsel Robert Deitz.^[9]

In 2009, the report on CIA interrogations was ordered released by a US judge. The report described, and strongly criticized the use of harsh interrogation techniques against detainees.^[10]

Helgerson retired from the CIA in 2009 after a 38 year career at the agency.^[11]