CIA chief of clandestine ops destroyed tapes on his own

NY Times:

White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said Friday.

The chief of the agency’s clandestine service nevertheless ordered their destruction in November 2005, taking the step without notifying even the C.I.A.’s own top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, who was angry at the decision, the officials said.

The disclosures provide new details about what Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, has said was a decision “made within C.I.A. itself” to destroy the videotapes. In interviews, members of Congress and former intelligence officials also questioned some aspects of the account General Hayden provided Thursday about when Congress was notified that the tapes had been destroyed.

Current and former intelligence officials say the videotapes showed severe interrogation techniques used on two Qaeda operatives, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who were among the first three terror suspects to be detained and interrogated by the C.I.A. in secret prisons after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Top C.I.A. officials had decided in 2003 to preserve the tapes in response to warnings from White House lawyers and lawmakers that destroying the tapes would be unwise, in part because it could carry legal risks, the government officials said.

But the government officials said that Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of the agency’s clandestine service, the Directorate of Operations, had reversed that decision in November 2005, at a time when Congress and the courts were inquiring deeply into the C.I.A.’s interrogation and detention program. Mr. Rodriguez could not be reached Friday for comment.

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This is looking like it will not be as much political fun for the Democrats. It may be reasonable to assume that he was protecting his guys and legal consequences of destroying the tapes would probably be less than the legal and political consequences of allowing them to be seen.

You have to ask why the interrogation was ever recorded. It could not have been for the pleasure of seeing it over again. More than likely it was recorded to make sure they did not miss something that was said that might have been important to stopping an on going operation.

My guess is that Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. may get the Oliver North treatment by Congress. Perhaps he needs to make an appointment with the famous potted plant Brendan Sullivan who did such a good job for North. The wheels are already grinding in Congress and the Justice Department. Rodriguez has since retired from his post. It would be a mistake to assume that his intent was to obstruct justice. He very well could have had national security concerns that may not be disclosed to the public yet. He is entitled to a presumption of innocence.