FBI Chief Nominee Says Waterboarding is Torture

James Comey currently facing Senate confirmation hearings

CAPITOL HILL — President Barack Obama's nominee to be America's next FBI director says the interrogation technique known as "waterboarding" is torture and therefore illegal. Former assistant attorney general James Comey faced intense questioning on law enforcement and national security matters during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Comey is known for having taken part in a heated debate over waterboarding that divided the former Bush administration in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.