CIA Destroyed Tapes As Judge Sought Interrogation Data

The New York Times reports this morning that according to recently declassified documents, the federal judge overseeing the case of Abu Zubayday was still seeking CIA tapes of his interrogation even as the government had the recordings destroyed:

At the time that the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed videotapes of the interrogations of operatives of Al Qaeda, a federal judge was still seeking information from Bush administration lawyers about the interrogation of one of those operatives, Abu Zubaydah, according to court documents made public on Wednesday.

The court documents, filed in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, appear to contradict a statement last December by Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, that when the tapes were destroyed in November 2005 they had no relevance to any court proceeding, including Mr. Moussaoui's criminal trial.

Read the article here.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that the prosecutor of Zacarias Moussaoui was aware that tapes of the interrogation had been destroyed almost year before the information was made public. The Justice Department informed him of the destruction even as he sought the death penalty for Moussaoui.

The lead prosecutor in the terror case against Zacarias Moussaoui may have known the CIA destroyed tapes of its interrogations of an al-Qaida suspect more than a year before the government acknowledged it to the court, newly unsealed documents indicate.

The documents, which were declassified and released Wednesday by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, detail efforts by Moussaoui's attorneys to send the case back to a lower federal court to find out whether the tapes should have been disclosed and whether they would have influenced his decision to plead guilty.

Read the article here.

Comments

[Nanotyrnns]

Let's all listen for the sonic boom of our Congress doing exactly nothing about this.

[fact finder]

Nonotyrns. See my above post then realize that every member of Congress is a member of the elite.

[mrdontplay]

Why are we subject to the law when so many are not?

How is it we go to jail and get tased just for speaking when other committ horrible crimes against humanity freedom and they do it all in OUR names with OUR money.

WTF!?

How can our courts keep americans encarcerted while these thugs run the world?

[Vanska]

Nothing surprises me anymore. Im saving my money to move out of the country. Really.

[sugarmoes]

i'm contemplating that too. hopefully the housing market doesn't totally crash.

[lacitepq]

I'm with you - this administration is the most corrupt in history. In hindsight their pledge to restore integrity to the WH was such a joke and so many dumb "family value" voters bought it. There has been no accountability in this adminstration - none. America the Great? - I think not

[tehriaz]

I'm planning for the same. new zealand.

[runswithscissors]

Makes you wonder if the proposed fence along the Mexican border is meant more to keep us in than to keep them out.

[Sundialsvc4]

How many times must a man say "crime" before a government that has allowed itself to be submerged in criminal activity will finally take lawful action against it?

Here's the bottom line:

We are all human. Every one of us. And it is human nature that, if we can get away with a crime, a certain percentage of us are going to do it. It is also human nature that, if you have access to an unlimited supply of coin-of-the-realm, you might develop an insatiable thirst for it. Put the two together, and you have tyranny.

Greed. Avarice. Cruelty.

These are not "nice" words, but they are nonetheless "our" words.

If we do not enforce the laws of our own land, as the laws of our own land do require, then we have no law ... and we have no society ... and soon enough, we have no land.

But ladies and gentlemen (all 320+ million of you), WE do have a choice. We can accept lawlessness with a resigned sigh and with the shake of our heads ... or we can relentlessly demand justice until we get it.

"The best that you can ever hope for" is precisely equal to "the worst that you are willing to accept." In other words, "if you accept it, it'll get even worse."

I want to live in a land that is ruled by impartial law. A law that applies blindly to every man or woman regardless of position, and that deals most harshly with those who betray the public trust.

[BlackWidowPilot]

Amen, Sundial, Amen.

This is America. My father (WW2 USMC) and his brothers (WW2 USA, USAAF, et al) and other family did not risk their necks fighting Hitler and his fellow travelers for THIS nonsense to ever occur, let alone slither along in perpetuity.

Each and every one of us who still considers themselves an American has a duty to one another, to ourselves, and to our children and every generation to come to fight this criminality at every possible turn, by every means at our disposal, however great or small.

Sic semper tyrannis. Whether they be foreign or domestic.

Besides, I think Karl Rove, Wolfowitz, Cheney, and Chimpy would all look just dapper in prison orange jumpsuits and shackles...

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[LORISNJ]

March 19 2008, Washington, DC on the anniversary of a five year disaster - march and demand justice.

Nancy must acknowledge that her unwillingness to do her Constitutional duty makes her a co-conspirator. There is a conspiracy to defraud, corrupt, usurp, and plunder the Constitution and the peoples of the United States of America. They can be charged under the RICO laws and have all their money and holdings frozen like they do for drug dealers and terrorists. But before they can arrest Bush and Cheney, the law requires them to be impeached first.

I can't figure out why it isn't "on the table", not to pursue impeachment amounts to obstruction of justice, so they may have to impeach Nancy before they can proceed with Bush and Cheney impeachments - the number of impeachment candidates is growing every day.

[larry278]

CIA means Caught In the Act. Gen Mike, Director, CIA is an older version of Maxwell Smart of the old TV series, "Get Smart".

[fact finder]

larry278; Wrong CIA means Criminally Insane Assholes.

[desmirl]

You are shocked when the CIA breaks the law? When they torture people? When they murder people? When they run drugs to pay for their clandestine crimes? And does anyone in the Bush Administration want to bring these pit bulls to heel? I don't think so....

[mrdontplay]

WHO RUNS THE CIA?

Who ever this person is has more power than the president of the United States.

[sugarmoes]

cheney.

[speakingtruth2power]

An interim President named Gerald Ford appointed GHWB to run the CIA.
GHWB still gets daily briefings from the CIA and their budget is classified.

[Agentprovokatur]

Spoliation: the destruction, alteration, or mutilation of evidence esp. by a party for whom the evidence is damaging.

It becomes criminal when there is a related investigation that would require it's production and preservations. Well, it's just another of the many crimes committed by this administration. Maybe it can turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak. Didn't Al Capone go down for tax evasion? Maybe these guys can be nailed for violating the laws on criminal procedure.

[armadillious2002]

These people are above the law - they've proven it time and again. They've broken so many laws now with so many coverups - the public really doesn't care anymore. It's like - Ho Hum - next.

[Nyla785]

I want my Justice Dept. back. We're now paying to have every area of our government help cover the Bush administration's butt.

[musselmanm]

How about an Attorney General named John Edwards?

[Ramus]

He shoulda stayed in it.

[sugarmoes]

GET CHENEY!!!!!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Waterboard Hayden.
The truth demands to be known.

[serialcoma]

Our country will be so much better off once all the bush pimps are run out of Washington...

republicans are a threat to our nation.

[armadillious2002]

I honestly believe that republicans should be declared a terrorist organization.

[scrzbill]

Nothing will be done. What has happened so far? Bush lies about the war. Bush lies about yellowccake. Bush lies about WMD. Bush lies and Cheney swears to it. Signing statements. Wiretaps. Invasions. Habeas Corpus. Torture. Bush breaks the law as a matter of daily exercise. What is done? nothing. Bush screams-We must protect the troops. We must protect America from terrorist. Sanctity of life. Nothing is done. Roll over and drop your pants. The rupukes are laughing at how weak Pelosi and Reid have been. They block any legislation and blame it on the dems. Call the liberal media. Air America is the only one I know.

[SirReal1]

This administration thumbed its nose at the courts???

I'm shocked, SHOCKED I SAY!

[gcallaghan]

Republicans = Military Failure