CIA videotapes

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No Charges in Destruction of CIA Videotapes

Agency destroyed 92 tapes of suspects being waterboarded

(Newser) - A special prosecutor cleared the CIA's former top clandestine officer and others today of any charges for destroying videotapes showing waterboarding of terror suspects. He did, however, continue an investigation into whether the interrogations went beyond legal boundaries. The decision not to prosecute anyone in the videotape destruction came five...

Secret CIA Interrogation Tapes Found Under Desk

Yet told the government they didn't exist

(Newser) - The CIA has tapes of confessed 9/11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh’s interrogation in a secret prison in Morocco, even though it has twice told the government that such tapes do not exist. The tapes, two video and one audio, were found in a box under a desk at the agency,...

Military to Tape All Interrogations on Bases

That includes Gitmo and Bagram, where most CIA suspects are held

(Newser) - From now on, military personnel must tape any interrogations that take place on a major military base, and are aimed at gathering “strategic intelligence,” according to a new order from the Pentagon. The regulations would apply to Guantanamo Bay, and Bagram Air Base, where the CIA is holding...

CIA Head Was OK With Destroying Torture Tapes
CIA Head Was OK With Destroying Torture Tapes
email evidence

CIA Head Was OK With Destroying Torture Tapes

Emails indicate Porter Goss agreed with the decision

(Newser) - Former CIA head Porter Goss agreed with the decision to destroy tapes of terror suspect Abu Zubaydah being waterboarded, email records obtained by the ACLU show. In one, the agency's top officer wrote that he "felt it was extremely important to destroy the tapes"—then added "PG,...

CIA Calls on Court to Keep Interrogation Files Secret

Panetta warns that releasing records would benefit al-Qaeda

(Newser) - The head of the CIA urged a federal judge yesterday to keep records of harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects under wraps, CNN reports. The ACLU is suing to make the files, which describe the content of destroyed CIA tapes, public. But Leon Panetta warned that doing so would have "...

CIA Destroyed More Tapes Than Admitted: Feds

(Newser) - The CIA destroyed 92 tapes of terror interrogations, far more than has previously been acknowledged, according to new documents. The revelation came in a letter filed today by government lawyers in New York, where the ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking more details of terror interrogation programs.

CIA Warned Not to Destroy Terror Tapes

Lawmaker cautioned it would 'reflect badly' on agency

(Newser) - The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee warned the CIA not to destroy videotapes of controversial interrogations of terror suspects, AP reports. "Videotape would be the best proof that the written record is accurate," California Rep. Jane Harman wrote in the declassified 2003 letter.  "Destruction...

CIA Obstructed 9/11 Inquiry, Commission Heads Charge

Destroying tapes at odds with probe

(Newser) - By withholding and ultimately destroying videotapes of the interrogation of al-Qaeda detainees, the CIA willfully obstructed the 9/11 commission, its top two members charge in today’s New York Times. Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton say the CIA repeatedly stonewalled their investigation in 2003-04, answering questions vaguely, denying access to...

CIA Tapes Were Made—and Destroyed—for PR

Interrogations filmed to counter mistreatment accusations; stopped when techniques grew harsh, reports NYT

(Newser) - Concern over its image prompted the CIA to first secretly create—and later destroy—tapes depicting the harsh interrogation of detainees, the New York Times reports. In spring 2002 the agency decided to document every moment of senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah's custody so that perceptions of mistreatment—by prosecutors,...

CIA Withheld Tapes From 9/11 Panel
CIA Withheld Tapes From 9/11 Panel

CIA Withheld Tapes From 9/11 Panel

Commission chairmen slam CIA for not disclosing interrogation videos

(Newser) - The 9/11 Commission made repeated requests to the CIA for details on the interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects and were told they'd been given everything the CIA had, the New York Times reports. A member of the commission reviewed classified records of the panel's work after the CIA said the agency...

Judge Won't Order Probe of Gitmo Tapes

Jurist reluctant to duplicate DoJ's efforts in CIA investigation

(Newser) - 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...

Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tapes
Bush: I Didn't Know About
CIA Tapes

Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tapes

Reserves judgment; knocks spending, Putin, in year-end presser

(Newser) - President Bush said today he didn’t know about the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes until CIA chief Michael Hayden briefed him earlier this month, and he intends to reserve judgment while they’re investigated. "Let's wait and see what the facts are," he said. In his year-end press...

White House Slams NYT for 'Misleading' CIA Story

Disputes its officials were in on destruction

(Newser) - The Bush administration refuted a New York Times story today that White House lawyers discussed with the CIA whether or not to destroy detainee interrogation videotapes, CNN reports. "The New York Times' inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling," a...

Bush Lawyers Talked to CIA About Tapes

Gonzales, Miers met intelligence officials before their destruction

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales and at least three other White House lawyers were involved in discussions with the CIA before the agency destroyed interrogation videotapes in 2005, the New York Times reports. Gonzales, Harriet Miers, David Addington, and John Bellinger all met with CIA officials, the Times says, based on interviews with...

White House Urges Judge Not to Probe CIA Tapes

Says order to protect evidence didn't apply

(Newser) - The Bush administration has asked a federal judge—who issued a 2005 order demanding the safeguarding of evidence on detainees—not to investigate the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. White House lawyers, addressing the tapes issue for the first time in court, say that if Judge Henry...

House Passes Ban on CIA Waterboarding

Interrogations must meet Geneva standards under bill

(Newser) - The House of Representatives today approved a bill that would forbid the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, Reuters reports. The measure follows revelations that the agency destroyed tapes showing al Qaeda suspects subjected to simulated drowning. But the bill still has to pass the Senate, and has...

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