Tapes Destroyed Over CIA's Objections (according to Hoekstra after meeting with Rizzo)

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 16, 2008
Filed at 9:29 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CIA official who gave the command to destroy interrogation videotapes apparently acted against the direction of his superiors, the top Republican House Intelligence Committee member said Wednesday.

''It appears he hadn't gotten authority from anyone,'' said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., speaking to reporters after the first day of closed testimony in the committee's investigation. ''It appears he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed.''

Hoekstra said that raises the troubling prospect that there's a thread of unaccountability in the spy culture.

''I believe there are parts of the intelligence community that don't believe they are accountable to Congress and may not be accountable to their own superiors in the intelligence community, and that's why it's a problem,'' he said.

Hoekstra spoke after the CIA's acting general counsel, John Rizzo, testified behind closed doors for nearly four hours as the first witness in what committee officials have said will be a long investigation.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-CIA-Videotapes.ht...

---

Account of C.I.A. Tapes Is Challenged


By MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE
Published: January 17, 2008
WASHINGTON — The former Central Intelligence Agency official who authorized the destruction in 2005 of videotapes documenting harsh interrogation of detainees from Al Qaeda gave the order despite apparently being directed to preserve the tapes, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday.

Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, said Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., head of the C.I.A.’s clandestine service at the time, had not “gotten authority from anyone” to destroy the tapes.

“Matter of fact, it appears that he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed,” he said.

Mr. Hoekstra spoke after hearing testimony from John A. Rizzo, the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, who addressed the committee on Wednesday during a closed session lasting nearly four hours.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/washington/17intel.ht...


Did they rec the okay from the WH?

Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate Of C.I.A.Tapes
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E3DB...

[Bonobo]

1. Yeah, I say bullshit.

[C_U_L8R]

2. bullshit twice

these crooks really need to get pounded on

[DCKit]

16. Thrice.

If Congress didn't grant him immunity and the maladministration expects him to be their fall guy, he'll roll over on them. I can see the headlines now:

"pResident, Veep, Cabinet and Top Aides Begin New Trend in Body Armor and Asbestos Daily Wear: Several Top Officials Said to be Seeking Political Amnesty on Foreign Soil"

[seemslikeadream]

3. Ollie?

[Ian David]

4. I predict his knife will go off in his back while he's cleaning it before he can testify. n/t

[bemildred]

5. Another "deranged loner" eh? nt

[bigbrother05]

6. Oh sure, 'rogue' agents did it. That ends it. nt

[jdadd]

7. Yeah thats the ticket.....

[Solly Mack]

8. unreal and yet all too real

"Hoekstra said that raises the troubling prospect that there's a thread of unaccountability in the spy culture.

''I believe there are parts of the intelligence community that don't believe they are accountable to Congress and may not be accountable to their own superiors in the intelligence community, and that's why it's a problem,'' he said."

LMAO

bovine caca

[bemildred]

9. That is funny, isn't it? A "thread of unaccountability in the spy culture". nt

[Solly Mack]

10. the deception of it all...comforting lies to maintain a myth

the rogue agent

[Frank Cannon]

11. I actually laughed out loud at that line

Gee, I don't know. Ya think?

[tblue37]

12. If he doesn't commit suicide with two shotgun blasts to the back of his head,

this guy will realize he is being hung out to dry and he will talk. His lawyering up and his earlier hints suggest that he is absolutely not willing to let them hang him out to twist slowly in the wind the way they are trying to.

I am guessing he got his orders directly from Cheney and Addington, not from his superiors in the spy chain of command, but I seriously doubt that his spy bosses told him to defy Cheney et al. and preserve the tapes.

[Supersedeas]

13. just one bad apple, right Pete

[yellowcanine]

14. 'Rodriguez...had not “gotten authority from anyone” to destroy the tapes.'

So he did it all on his own little initiative? I do not believe that for an instant. These guys are professionals. Someone told him to destroy those tapes. The question is who. It is interesting that coincidentially certain white house emails are apparently MISSING.

[maddezmom]

15. Lawyer: Goss never objected on CIA tapes

Lawyer: Goss never objected on CIA tapes By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 17, 4:27 PM ET



WASHINGTON - Former CIA Director Porter Goss never criticized plans to destroy interrogation videotapes, a lawyer said Thursday as the investigation began shaping up as a matter of competing storylines.

Jose Rodriguez, the CIA official who gave the order to destroy the tapes, is at the center of Justice Department and congressional investigations into who approved the plan and whether it was illegal. His attorney, Robert Bennett, said Goss and Rodriquez met several times to discuss the tapes and Goss was never critical of Rodriquez' decision.

After a first round of hearings on Capitol Hill, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said Rodriguez defied orders that the tapes be preserved.

Bennett disputed that in a telephone interview, saying Goss offered Rodriguez "not a word of criticism when they met, either before or right after the destruction."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_go_co/cia_vid...

[Zorra]

17. Mr. Rodriguez is a scapegoat that will soon be set for life for taking

the blame for this?