It appears that officials in the Department of Defense are denying Barack Obama access to information on Binyam Mohamed’s torture and abuse.

No, this isn’t a typo, someone in the DoD is refusing to turn over information to the President of the United States of America:

Clive Stafford Smith, the director of the legal charity Reprieve, which represents Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, sent Obama evidence of what he called “truly mediaeval” abuse but substantial parts were blanked out so the president could not read it.

In the letter to the president [PDF] , Stafford Smith urges him to order the disclosure of the evidence.

Stafford Smith tells Obama he should be aware of the “bizarre reality” of the situation. “You, as commander in chief, are being denied access to material that would help prove that crimes have been committed by US personnel. This decision is being made by the very people who you command.”

It is understood US defence officials might have censored the evidence to protect the president from criminal liability or political embarrassment.

George Orwell and Franz Kafka are now spinning in their graves at sufficient velocity to power all of Belarus.