The short answer: We don't know for sure.
For years, U.S. intelligence officials collected bits of data on the courier who ultimately led them to Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, initially from detainees at CIA black sites, during a time when U.S. interrogators are known to have used harsh tactics such as waterboarding. More information was obtained later, after President Obama ended the Bush-era interrogation tactics.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney did answer yes or no when he was asked, at Tuesday's press briefing, whether harsh interrogations yielded relevant intelligence:
Q Were any results of such techniques used in helping to track down bin Laden?MR. CARNEY: Mark, the fact is that no single piece of information led to the successful mission that occurred on Sunday, and multiple detainees provided insights into the networks of people who might have been close to bin Laden. But reporting from detainees was just a slice of the information that has been gathered by incredibly diligent professionals over the years in the intelligence community. And it's simply strange credulity to suggest that a piece of information that may or may not have been gathered eight years ago somehow directly led to a successful mission on Sunday. That's just not the case.
Earlier on Tuesday, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that as far as she knows, none of the information had come from harsh interrogations. But she also said she didn't know exactly where all of it had come from. The committee's Democratic staff is currently engaged in a broader study of harsh interrogation tactics, and Feinstein's background knowledge seems to be informed by that investigation.