DOJ May Have Known of CIA Tape Destruction a Year Before Court Disclosure
Documents released in the appeal of convicted al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui showed that Justice Department lawyers knew since at least early 2006 that the CIA destroyed a videotaped interrogation of an al-Qaida lieutenant from whom Moussaoui sought information.
The date is more than a year before the destruction of the tapes was disclosed to the court, the Associated Press reports.
A December letter to the chief judge of the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the Moussaoui prosecutor, Robert Spencer, may have been told in late February or early March 2006 about the destruction of the videotape of Abu Zubaydah, the Los Angeles Times reports. The letter says Spencer does not recall being told the information, but another prosecutor recalls informing him about the destruction.
An anonymous government official told AP that the destruction of the Abu Zubaydah tapes did not need to be revealed because the judge had determined his testimony was not relevant.
The documents filed with the appeals court also indicate that the CIA destroyed the videotapes while the judge in the Moussaoui trial was still seeking information about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the New York Times reports.
Another October letter in the appeal mentions two videotapes and one audiotape of interrogations possessed by the CIA. Intelligence officials said the tapes still exist and are separate from the destroyed tapes, the Times story says.
