Commodifying state crime: Accounting and “extraordinary rendition”

In 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) set up an “extraordinary rendition” program in which supposed al Qaeda agents were secretly kidnapped and rendered to countries known for torturing prisoners, or to CIA controlled black sites where “enhanced interrogation techniques” were employed. In 2009, two of the subcontractors for the CIA's privatized rendition fights, Richmor and Sportsflight, went to court over a contract dispute. Based on the testimony and evidence in the case, this paper examines the role accounting played in transforming a state crime into a commodity that could be costed and argued about. Accounting did so by elevating profit, performance, minutia and normal business routines as important, and kidnapping and torture as irrelevant. However, the court case also demonstrated the absolute mendacity of accounting in that the federal government did not intervene even though state secrets would be revealed through the invoices entered into evidence.