Is this news? Jay Bybee and overreach by interrogators

I finished listening to an audiobook version of Marc A. Thiessen's book "Courting Disaster" this week.  That book was partly responsible for my jaw dropping when I saw this story in the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — A former Bush Justice Department official who approved brutal interrogation methods by the C.I.A. has told Congress that he never authorized several other rough tactics reportedly inflicted on terrorism suspects — including prolonged shackling to a ceiling and repeated beatings.

Isn't it widely know by now that the Bush administration set strict limits on harsh interrogation methods?  And since when is "brutal" an acceptable judgment in objective reporting?

This news was old even when Attorney General Eric Holder contemplated charging CIA interrogators who went beyond the use of techniques authorized by the Bush administration.