Destruction of CIA Tapes Defended

This would be funny if it weren't so sinister:

The Bush administration has told a federal judge that its 2005 destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes did not violate a court order because the captives in question were being kept in secret prisons at the time, not at the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In court papers, the government also urged U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. not to seek further information about the tapes to avoid interfering with the inquiries of the Justice Department and the CIA's inspector general.

"In light of the current inquiries by the political branches into the destruction of the tapes that occasioned petitioners' motion, it would not be appropriate to institute a judicial inquiry," according to the filing by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey S. Bucholtz and two federal prosecutors.

The motion, which was filed late Friday night, is the first courtroom statement by the Bush administration since the CIA disclosed that videotapes of coercive interrogation techniques used on two "high-value detainees" were destroyed in November 2005.

The filing follows the Justice Department's request that Congress delay its inquiries into the tapes, saying the administration cannot provide witnesses or documents without jeopardizing its own investigation. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey also told lawmakers that he could not provide any details about the probe or the Justice Department's role in the tapes' destruction.

Previous Articles:
- Congress's Probe of CIA Tapes Resisted
- Ex-CIA Agent: Waterboarding 'Saved Lives'
- Did Bush Know About the CIA Tapes?
- Harriet Miers Knew of Destruction of Interrogation Tapes
- CIA Destroyed Videos Showing Qaeda Interrogations