Terrorism
Judge Gives CIA 10 Days to Persuade Him Not to Issue Contempt Citation
Posted Aug 19, 2008, 11:59 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge says he will give government lawyers 10 days to explain why he should not hold the CIA in contempt of court for destroying interrogation videotapes of al-Qaida detainees.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of New York is considering whether the destruction of the tapes violated a court order, the New York Law Journal reports. After 10 days he will rule on contempt and decide whether to order the CIA to produce a list of the tapes, information on witnesses and other documents.
Hellerstein said he would order the CIA to produce the list and documents unless lawyers could persuade him it would interfere with a criminal investigation, the Associated Press reports. The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking the information in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
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