John Dean: How An ACLU Lawsuit Might Force Bush To-REVEAL-WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

----
The Investigations of the Destruction of CIA Torture Tapes: How An ACLU Lawsuit Might Force the Bush Administration To Reveal What Actually Happened
By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Friday, Dec. 14, 2007

.............

The ACLU's Lawsuit, and the Order that the CIA Produce Documents

When word of mistreatment of detainees surfaced, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request targeting the CIA and others on October 7, 2003 and May 25, 2004, seeking records concerning the treatment of all detainees apprehended after September 11, 2001 and held in U.S. custody abroad. This, of course, would mean not only in Guantanamo but in the secret prisons in Eastern Europe operated by the CIA.

Not surprisingly, the government stiffed the request, so the ACLU filed a lawsuit in June 2004 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case ended up in the courtroom of Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. On September 15, 2004, Judge Hellerstein ordered the CIA and other government departments to "produce or identify" all responsive documents by October 15, 2004.

The CIA claimed that some of the relevant documents were the subject of an inquiry by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General, so its attorneys requested a stay of the judge's order and an extension of time to comply with the request for other documents. In February 2005, Judge Hellerstein denied the CIA's request for a stay, but he did not enforce the stay immediately when the CIA moved for the judge to reconsider his ruling based on additional evidence from the CIA's Director - as the CIA entered a full-court press to prevent the ACLU from getting anything.

This stalling action had been playing out, when news of the destruction of the tapes became public. Now, in the action before Judge Hellerstein, he ACLU has moved to hold the CIA in contempt of court, based on the Judge's September 15, 2004 ruling. It is difficult to see why the CIA is, in fact, not in contempt, given the nature of the FOIA request and the judge's order.

...........



more at:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20071214.html

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/33152prs20071212.html

Citing Destruction of Torture Tapes, ACLU Asks Court to Hold CIA in Contempt (12/12/2007)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

Restore Habeas Tool Kit / Resources >>
LEARN MORE
> The Military Commissions Act and Habeas Corpus

NEWS
> ACLU Calls for Independent Prosecutor to Investigate Destruction of CIA Interrogation Tapes (12/7/2007)
> ACLU Cheers House and Senate Intel Bill Conferees for Including Provision Prohibiting Torture and Abuse (12/6/2007)
> ACLU Responds to CIA's Destruction of Harsh Interrogation Tapes (12/6/2007)
> ACLU Calls for Release of Three Secret Torture Memos (12/5/2007)
> ACLU Cheers DOD Amendment Restoring Habeas Corpus Due Process Rights (9/19/2007)

GET INVOLVED
Day of Action: Watch a Webcast of the Rally >>
FINDHABEAS.COM >>

THE FACTS
> About the Military Commissions Act
> About Detention

NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a motion asking a federal judge to hold the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in contempt, charging that the agency flouted a court order when it destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the harsh interrogation of prisoners in its custody. In response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the ACLU and other organizations in October 2003 and May 2004, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the CIA to produce or identify all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees in its custody. Despite the court’s ruling, the CIA never produced the tapes or even acknowledged their existence. Last week, in anticipation of media reports concerning the tapes, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly acknowledged that the CIA had made the tapes in 2002 but destroyed them in 2005.

“The CIA’s secret destruction of these tapes displays a flagrant disregard for the rule of law,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “It must be sanctioned for violating the court’s order and the obligation to preserve records that fell within the scope of our Freedom of Information Act requests.”

The tapes, which showed CIA operatives subjecting suspects to extremely harsh interrogation methods, should have been identified and processed for the ACLU in response to its FOIA request demanding information on the treatment and interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. The tapes were also withheld from the 9/11 Commission, appointed by President Bush and Congress, which had formally requested that the CIA hand over transcripts and recordings documenting the interrogation of CIA prisoners.

“These tapes were clearly responsive to the Freedom of Information Act requests that we filed in 2003 and 2004, and accordingly the CIA was under a legal obligation to produce the tapes to us or to provide a legal justification for withholding them,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “By destroying these tapes, the CIA violated the statute as well as an order of the court. In the circumstances, it would be entirely appropriate for the court to hold the agency in contempt.”


..snip

What does a Contempt citation mean to the CIA? This is just an open declaration of war on the US Legal System..They refuse to obey the Law and there is not a damn thing anyone can do unless Congress takes it upon itself to act with "Inherent Contempt" They have the authority and the power to do so but I doubt the will.

then its pretty obvious they are guilty and we have entered in a period of tyranny

they disregard Congress and Courts and facism is the order of the day

Laws and rules only apply to non-republicans.

put it in jail?

:rofl:

maybe he could get Tom Cruise to sneak in and get the remaining docs. He did a nice job im Mission Impossible.