CIA Chief Sheds Little Light on Tapes

Hayden grilled by Senate panel, says videos predate him
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2007 6:30 PM CST
CIA Chief Sheds Little Light on Tapes
Central Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Hayden, left, stops to try and hear a reporter's question upon his arrival for a closed-door briefing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)   (Associated Press)

Senators grilled CIA chief Michael Hayden for 90 minutes today, but his appearance behind closed doors shed little light on the agency's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Hayden's session was "useful and not yet complete," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller of the intelligence panel. Afterward, Hayden said that because the tapes were not made or destroyed during his watch, he couldn't answer all questions.

"Other people in the agency know about this far better than I," said Hayden, who pledged to push for more witnesses. He will appear before a House panel tomorrow. The CIA has been under fire since acknowledging it destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes in 1995 that show the severe interrogation of two al-Qaeda operatives. (More Michael Hayden stories.)

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