Judge Won't Order Probe of Gitmo Tapes

Jurist reluctant to duplicate DoJ's efforts in CIA investigation
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2007 3:28 PM CST
Judge Won't Order Probe of Gitmo Tapes
Justice Department attorney Joseph Hunt, right, who presented the government's case regarding the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Carl Nichols, left, leave federal court in Washington, Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, after a hearing. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)   (Associated Press)

In the first public hearing on the issue, a federal judge today refused to immediately order an investigation into the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes. Lawyers for Yemeni nationals held at Guantanamo argued that the destruction violated a 2005 order by Judge Henry Kennedy, who ordered today's hearing. The White House countered that the order may not even apply to the prisoners in question, the Times reports.

Kennedy did not deny the request by the detainees' lawyers but said he would rule later. The administration argued that the Justice Department is investigating, moving the judge to ask, "Why should the court not permit the Department of Justice to do just that?" One lawyer for the prisoners retorted by comparing that to "leaving the fox in charge of the henhouse," the Washington Post reports. (More District Judge Henry Kennedy stories.)

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