CIA Backtracks On Reasons For Withholding Docs in Interrogation Tapes Case (Leopold | Public Record

[struggle4progress]

Written by Jason Leopold
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 16:30

Two weeks ago, the CIA said in court documents that it would not turn over documents to the ACLU related to the destruction of 92 interrogation videotapes because it would compromise the integrity of a special prosecutor’s criminal investigation into the matter.

But on Monday, the Justice Department, acting on behalf of the CIA, submitted a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein that said the agency would no longer rely on that argument as the basis for withholding documents from the civil rights organization related to the destruction of the videotapes. The reversal comes after Hellerstein demanded that Durham and other officials provide the court with a sworn affidavit confirming that the reasons the agency would not turn over the documents as previously ordered was because it would hinder Durham's probe.

In December 2007, the ACLU filed a motion to hold the CIA in contempt for its destruction of the tapes in violation of a court order requiring the agency to produce or identify all records requested by the ACLU related to the CIA’s interrogation of “war on terror” detainees.

In his letter to Judge Hellerstein Monday, Lev Dassin, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, also submitted a letter from Special Prosecutor John Durham that contained details of Durham’s criminal probe, which Dassin said was “ongoing.” Durham’s letter was not disclosed publicly and was only made available to Judge Hellerstein because it described the status of his criminal probe ...

http://pubrecord.org/torture/914-cia-backtracks-on-reasons-for-withholding-docs-in-interrgation-tapes-case.html