Can the Senate Intelligence Committee use harsher interrogation techniques than the CIA?

Ok, I admit, it's not laugh-out-loud funny but in today's New York Times story about the confirmation hearings of John Rizzo, the nominee for the C.I.A.'s general counsel, a former colleague, A.B. Krongard, reportedly told the Times: “He’ll be the piñata,” referring to the Mexican doll that children beat to the point of breaking so they can get at the candy inside.

This is a funny analogy to use, because later in the article, when the Times reports on the speculation regarding what exactly Rizzo will say about the torture techniques he approved when he acted as the liaison between the C.I.A. and the Justice Department, the newspaper writes:

Mr. Krongard said deciding the limits of interrogation for Al Qaeda’s top operatives was not easy. “Can you slap someone in the face? Maybe,” he said. “But can you hit them as hard as you can? Maybe not.”

Get it? No?

Well imagine if Krongard had described KSM, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, as having been treated like a piñata by C.I.A. agents. Now do you get it?

As I said, it's not ha-ha funny, but there is a laughable sub-text here, no?