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The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) is a U.S. intelligence-gathering group created by President Barack Obama in August 2009. Its charter was written in April 2010. It was established to question terrorism suspects soon after their arrests, to quickly obtain information about accomplices and terrorism threats.
The group mainly interrogates people overseas. The Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said in January 2010 that the group would begin interrogating people in the U.S. as well.
The group is made up of intelligence professionals from many branches of the U.S. government including the United States Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and United States Department of Defense, is housed within the FBI, and run under the auspices of the National Security Council.
The group's creation shifted power from the CIA and the FBI to the White House.
HIG questioned Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square car bomber, Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Benghazi terror suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala.