CIA Says Destroyed Interrogation Videos Irrelevant to Guantánamo Prisoner Case

Posted by Joshua Pantesco, Jurist Legal News and Research at 5:00 PM on April 17, 2008.

Two videotapes showing CIA officers interrogating al Qaeda suspects are likely not related to a federal case filed by a Guantánamo Bay detainee and thus not covered by a court order entered in that case directing the CIA to preserve evidence relating to the case, the CIA argued in court papers filed Wednesday. The filing came in response to an order issued in January by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts directing the government to provide information about why the CIA destroyed videotapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects, whether other evidence connected to a lawsuit filed by Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee Hani Abdullah was destroyed, and what steps the government has taken to preserve relevant evidence. According to the CIA filing, the CIA has reviewed thousands of classified documents in conjunction with federal prosecutors to determine whether the tapes were protected under the court order, but found nothing to indicate they are relevant to the federal case. AP has more.

CIA Director Michael Hayden acknowledged in December 2007 that the CIA destroyed the two videotapes in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators. In February, Roberts extended the deadline for the CIA to reply to his request for information. The CIA had asked for the extension on the grounds that compliance could interfere with a U.S. Justice Department criminal probe into the destruction of the tapes.