CIA Lawyers Gave Written OK to Destroy Tapes

CIA lawyers in the clandestine branch, known then as the Directorate of Operations, gave written approval to destroy two videotapes of interrogations of al-Qaida suspects, the New York Times reports.

A former intelligence official told the newspaper that Jose Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of the directorate, concluded he had the authority to destroy the tapes in November 2005 based on written advice from lawyers in the division.

The advice of the CIA lawyers was at odds with that of lawyers within the White House and the Justice Department, who advised the agency in 2003 that it should not destroy the tapes, the official said. But those lawyers never issued a direct order to that effect.

“They never told us, ‘Hell, no,’ ” he said.

The date of the destruction could be important. A motion filed on Sunday claims the CIA violated a protective order issued in June 2005 requiring the government to preserve evidence regarding torture and mistreatment of Guantanamo detainees.

In a separate case, lawyers for a different group of Guantanamo detainees filed a motion yesterday that says they notified the CIA of a judge's order forbidding destruction of potential evidence in July 2005, SCOTUSblog reports. The motion (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) was filed with with U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts of Washington, D.C.

The Times story is now putting the date of destruction at November 2005 or after.

Current and former intelligence officials said CIA acting general counsel John Rizzo did not give final approval before the tapes’ destruction, although he had been involved in discussions about the issue.

CIA Director Michael Hayden is expected to testify today in a closed session before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the tapes’ destruction.

A former CIA officer is telling the Washington Post and ABC News that one of the destroyed videotapes shows the waterboarding of a top al-Qaida suspect. Ex-officer John Kiriakou said the simulated-drowning technique worked, helping foil several planned attacks.