December 19, 2007

WH Lawyers May Have Encouraged Destruction Of CIA Tapes

One day after a federal judge ignored the Justice Department's objections and ordered a hearing into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, the New York Times is reporting that at least four high-ranking White House lawyers may have had a role in the decision to destroy the video evidence.

Citing "current and former administration and intelligence officials," the Times names four White House officials -- former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff David Addington, former senior National Security Council lawyer John Bellinger and former White House counsel Harriet Miers -- who "took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives" from al-Qaida.

The Times' sources reportedly gave "conflicting accounts as to whether anyone at the White House expressed support for the idea that the tapes should be destroyed."

Against the wishes of the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. plans to hold a hearing Friday in Washington to explore whether the destruction of the tapes in November 2005 violated a court order to preserve evidence of secret CIA interrogations.

The Justice Department had urged Kennedy not to get involved, claiming he did not have jurisdiction over the case and his involvement would hinder investigations being conducted by DOJ and the CIA. Administration officials have also asked Congress to delay public hearings on the matter until those probes are completed. But lawmakers pledged to continue their own investigations into the destroyed tapes last week after they said they were unsatisfied by the answers they received from CIA Director Michael Hayden in closed briefings.

The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post have more on Kennedy's ruling yesterday and Friday's scheduled hearing. And the Christian Science Monitor examines Michael Mukasey's possible role in the matter, calling it the "first big challenge" for the newly installed attorney general.

Posted at 7:46 AM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, CIA, Harriet Miers, Michael Hayden, Michael Mukasey, Terrorism
Share via