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Justice Dept. Launches Criminal Probe of CIA Tapes
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had launched a criminal investigation into the CIA's destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.
"There is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation," Attorney General Michael Mukasey said in a statement issued by the department.
The CIA last month disclosed that it had destroyed in 2005 hundreds of hours of tapes from the interrogations of two al Qaeda suspects, prompting an outcry from Democrats, human rights activists and some legal experts.
The interrogations, which took place in 2002, were believed to have included a form of simulated drowning known as waterboarding, condemned internationally as torture.
President George W. Bush has said the United States does not torture but has declined to be specific about interrogation methods.
The Justice Department and the CIA's inspector general last month launched an initial inquiry into the tapes. Congress is also investigating the tapes' destruction.
The CIA said it would "cooperate fully with this investigation, as it has with others into this matter."
But the agency's inspector general, John Helgerson, said he would step aside from the full investigation.
Helgerson said the inspector general's office had reviewed the tapes "some years ago" as part of a review into agency interrogations and that he had helped prepare a report on the issue, so it would be inappropriate to be involved in the probe.
Mukasey said he had asked a federal prosecutor from Connecticut, John Durham, to lead the probe.
© 2007 Reuters
18 Comments so far
Show AllHere we go again Michael Fox...er I mean Mukasey investigating the hen house. No problem here....(burp!)..ummm.....hand me another hen...er I mean document. Am I doin' good, George? Huh?
The Department of JusTrustUs? Sure.
Is this the same Justice Department that denied the US was torturing prisoners?
So they called in the jackals to investigate the hyenas. Yea, right. The only "investigation" we'll see is investigating better ways of hiding the evidence.
Yeah .. in the end there will be the usual disclosure that some low-ranking official messed up .. and he/she will retire to spend more time with the family .. and receive a medal of honor .. and get a high-paying job in the "defense" industry .. move along folks .. nothing to see here ..
The really sad part about this whole crime family corruption is that nobody will trust any government agency or agent for the rest of the New American Century no matter who might be the following elected officials. Trust is such a brittle thing.
At 5:01 PM, Whatfools wrote "...nobody will trust any government agency or agent..."
Nobody should trust them, human nature being what it is. When you give power to any individual or group, it behooves you to assume they'll abuse it, and watch them like a cat watching a caged cockatoo.
That's not sad, it's just how it is.
What's sad is that enough of our fellow citizens have been lulled into watching dream cockatoos on their TVs, or playing virtual cockatoo fights on their Gameboys, to allow some horrific crimes to be committed in their names and with their hard-earned money.
Ralph Nader for Attorney General.
The Fox guarding the Henhouse.
Yawn.
I believe the Congressional Judiciary hearing this month, when Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIAs clandestine division testifies, will be the important investigation. Rodriguez knows where all the dirt has been hidden.
Better coverage ..
http://www.npr.org/
"Justice Department to Investigate CIA Tapes"
You should never trust people of power. Period.
Wasn't it Lenin who said that trust is good, but monitoring is better?
wHAT A BUNCH OF SNAKE OIL SALESMEN. hIS BOSS IS THE WHITE hOUSE.How do we spell previledge?
Can anyone spell 'COVER UP' in the making with this investigation? This is just one more useless exercise in 'Right Wing Neocon stupidity' designed to make them look like they have some respect for the law! We all know that their isn't any way the Bush Administration is going to indict itself or admit it did wrong! So why waste more of the taxpayers money on this kind of nonsense? I am so sick of this bunch of 'Usurpers' who dwell in the White House. I can't wait for next year to come and we might be rid of the thugs who have terrorized our country for the last 8 years!
It's show time folks! We are about to see the same old well orchestrated illusion of democracy at work. Abracadabra, now you see obstruction now you don't. I would like to thank you all for coming and I hope you will enjoy the show. The media reviews will be good and the actors will take their bows and exit stage right. We will forget about their sad preformance and elect new actors in 08, because the show must go on.
-- "The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had launched a criminal investigation into the CIA's destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects." --
Oh, why bother? This is so clearly a whitewash assignment from the White House, that nobody believes the Justice Deptment can act independently, now and forever.
There's probably some trivial legality, hoop or regulation they need to pay lip-service to. Once it has a new coat of whitewash it'll be good as new.
I am not so skeptical.
Most Intel agents are fed up with this and are against torture and do not want to take any more blame for the War Crime Prez.
When things are changing fast all over the planet at a faster rate than ever before and with the speed and massive reach of the internet which keeps folks all over the world informed with more than the spin of the Main Street Media... Well I am not a bit skeptical about the Global Revolution taking place and it is affecting everybody including the rats abandoning ship.
Viva the Revolution!