Judge Orders Hearing On CIA Interrogation Tapes

Source: CBS News

A federal judge has ordered a hearing on whether the Bush administration violated a court order by destroying CIA interrogation videos of suspected terrorists.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy rejected calls from the Justice Department to stay out of the matter. He ordered lawyers to appear before him Friday morning.

In June 2005, Kennedy ordered the administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

Five months later, the CIA destroyed the interrogation videos. The recordings involved suspected terrorists Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The Justice Department argued that the videos weren't covered by the order because the two men were being held in secret CIA prisons overseas, not at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Read more: http://cbs4.com/national/CIA.tapes.hearing.2.613415.html

:thumbsup:

Judge Kennedy stands up to the criminals!

Two branches of government are crashing down on these bozos.

:bounce:

...that this is the overture to the end of the Bush administration at long last.

May it be so.

Except for the fact that most of the crap that is going our way could very well take more than 399 days to wend their ways through courts, reviews and stalling procedures. So I'm a cynic!

However, Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House
Intelligence Committee, defied the Bush administration Sunday and pledged
to investigate the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes
:rofl:

http://cbs4.com/national/CIA.tapes.hearing.2.613415.html

Hoekstra of Michigan

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2480172#2484844

Source: The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Bush administration to defend its decision to destroy videotapes of CIA interrogations of two al-Qaida suspects.

In a one-sentence order, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy rejected calls from the Justice Department to stay out of the matter and told lawyers to appear before him Friday at 11 a.m.

In June 2005, Kennedy ordered the administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

Five months later, the CIA destroyed the interrogation videos. The recordings involved suspected terrorists Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The Justice Department argued that the videos weren't covered by the order because the two men were being held in secret CIA prisons overseas, not at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071218/cia-videotapes/

And will the Judge -- like spineless Demo congresses everywhere -- agree?

...finally bringing some justice to these nation-thieves....

I'm glad *co wasn't able to destroy the judicial system entirely.

The Justice Department and CIA are investigating the destruction of the tapes and have urged Congress and the courts to give them space and time to let them investigate.

Remes urged Kennedy not to comply.

"Plainly the government wants only foxes guarding this henhouse," Remes wrote in court documents this week.

Kennedy did not say why he was ordering the hearing or what he planned to ask. Even if the judge accepts the argument that government did not violate his order, he still could raise questions about obstruction or spoliation, a legal term for the destruction of evidence in "pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: Associated Press

Judge orders hearing on whether administration violated court order by destroying CIA videos
By MATT APUZZO (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
December 19, 2007 12:02 AM EST
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration must answer questions about the destruction of CIA interrogation videos of two al-Qaida suspects, a federal judge said, rejecting the government's efforts to keep the courts out of the investigation.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy on Tuesday ordered Justice Department lawyers to appear before him Friday at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) to discuss whether destroying the tapes, which showed two al-Qaida suspects being questioned, violated a court order.

The Justice Department has urged Congress and the courts to back off, saying its investigators need time to complete their inquiry. Government attorneys say the courts do not have the authority to get involved in the matter and could jeopardize the case.

For now, at least, Kennedy disagreed. Attorneys in unrelated cases, meanwhile, began pressing other judges to demand information about the tapes. In June 2005, Kennedy ordered the Bush administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

Read more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20071218/4768a550_3426_1335020071219-908719108

Or at the least, prosecutorial misconduct. What are the Bushies thinking, pissing off the Congress and the Courts at the same time?