The U.S. Department of Justice has decided to begin a criminal investigation of the CIA for destroying tapes of Al-Qaeda interrogations that took place in 2002.
The tapes were destroyed in 2005 and contained hundreds of hours of the interrogation of two suspected Al-Qaeda members. The tapes are believed to include harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. (To see a demonstration of waterboarding watch this clip from Keith Olbermann) The CIA has defended itself by stating that the tapes had little "intelligence value" and that their existence could compromise the identity of CIA agents. The CIA has agreed to cooperate with the criminal probe but the Bush administration has not. The President refuses to address the issue until the inquiry has completed, and the White House denied a recent New York Times article implicating the WH in the scandal.
According to the NYT, the destruction of the tapes were the focus of debate by high level lawyers for nearly three years, which could include then White House Counsel (and later Attorney General) Alberto Gonazles and his deputy Harriet Miers. CIA spokesmen Mark Mansfield stated that the tapes were not destroyed until 2005 "Because it was thought the [9/11]commission could ask about tapes at some point, they were not destroyed while the [9/11] commission was active." Yet the 9/11 Commission and federal courts had repeatedly requested access to the any information pertaining to 9/11 or Al-Qaeda, both of which were denied. Not only were they denied, but they were not even informed of the tapes existence.
Here is an excerpt from The Raw Story concerning the 9/11 Commissions knowledge of the tapes. The quotes are taken from a New York Times Op-Ed piece written by Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, Chairman and Co-Chairman of the 9/11 Commission. The full NYT piece can be found here.
But Kean and Hamilton (Chairman and Co-Chairmen of 9/11 Commission) wrote that although US President George W. Bush had ordered all executive branch agencies to cooperate with the probe, "recent revelations that the CIA destroyed videotaped interrogations of Qaeda operatives leads us to conclude that the agency failed to respond to our lawful requests for information about the 9/11 plot."
"Those who knew about those videotapes -- and did not tell us about them -- obstructed our investigation."
They continued: "There could have been absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone at the CIA -- or the White House -- of the commission’s interest in any and all information related to Qaeda detainees involved in the 9/11 plot.
"Yet no one in the administration ever told the commission of the existence of videotapes of detainee interrogations," Kean and Hamilton wrote.
They said the panel made repeated, detailed requests to the spy agency in 2003 and 2004 for information about the interrogation of members of the Islamic extremist network but were never notified about the existence of the tapes."
The inquiry stems from a 2005 ruling by U.S. District Judge Harry H. Kennedy to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay." In response to Kennedy, Department of Justice lawyers insisted that the 2005 order did not apply to the tapes in question because the interrogations took place in secret CIA prisons, not Guantanamo Bay. The Bush administration has also asked federal courts and congressional committees not to pursue an investigation of the tapes destruction, claiming that they will interfere with the DoJ probe.
The House and Senate Judiciary committees have requested information on the inquiry from U.S. Attorney General Mike Mukasey but were denied because he believed the release could be seen as giving in to "political influence."
"At my confirmation hearing, I testified that I would act independently, resist political pressure and ensure that politics plays no role in cases brought by the Department of Justice," Mukasey said.
"With regard to the suggestion that I appoint a special counsel, I am aware of no facts at present to suggest that department attorneys cannot conduct this inquiry in an impartial manner. If I become aware of information that leads me to a different conclusion, I will act on it," Mukasey said.
Mukasey has appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to lead the investigation, Durham is known mostly for his work in Connecticut prosecuting the mob.
Mukasey and the Department of Justice have yet to state what crimes are being investigated. The current speculation is focusing on obstruction of justice and various false statement offenses. Subpoenas are currently being prepared for CIA Counsel John Rizzo and former head of the CIA Jose Rodriguez. Rodriguez is believed to be the one who ordered the destruction of the tapes, allegedly against Rizzo and Miers advice.
Here is a New York Times Opinion article about this issue.
Sources:
Reuters: US To Launch Criminal Probe of CIA Tapes
BBC: Criminal Inquiry Over CIA Tapes
BBC: Inquiry into Destroyed CIA Tapes
BBC: CIA Kept Tapes from 9/11 Probe
Yahoo: Bush Says Won't Discuss CIA Tapes As Slams Critics
CNN: Investigators Pore Over CIA Papers Related to Destroyed Tapes
CNN: White House: NYT Article Wrong About CIA Tapes
CNN: Destroying Tapes Didn't Violate Order, Administration Says
CNN: Bush Administration: Back Off CIA Tape Probe
The Raw Story: 9/11 Commission Leaders Blast CIA on Interrogation Tapes
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