Rockefeller: Actually, I Just Found Out About the Destroyed Torture-Tapes YesterdayTake two! Senate intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) had said yesterday that the CIA told him about its destruction of videotaped interrogations in “November 2006.” But oops — in a new statement just released to the press, he says he spoke too soon. It turns out he knew about the tapes’ existence in 2003, but only found out about their destruction yesterday. Rocky:
“Last night, the CIA informed me that it believes that the leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee was told of the decision to destroy the tapes in February 2003 but was not told of their actual destruction until a closed committee hearing held in November 2006.“The committee has located no record of either being informed of the 2003 CIA decision or being notified late last year of the tapes having being destroyed. A review of the November 2006 hearing transcript finds no mention of tapes being destroyed.
“While the existence of the videotapes was known to me in 2003 in my capacity as then-Vice Chairman of the committee, I was not told of the CIA’s decision to destroy the tapes and I was not aware of their destruction until yesterday’s press reports.”
The CIA shares so much information with Rockefeller, he must have just been confused. Who can keep it straight? In any event, Rockefeller knew since 2003 that some interrogations were videotaped, and he kept his mouth shut. Here’s what he said he did.
“In May 2005, I wrote the CIA Inspector General requesting over a hundred documents referenced in or pertaining to his May 2004 report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation activities. Included in my letter was a request for the CIA to provide to the Senate Intelligence Committee the CIA’s Office of General Counsel report on the examination of the videotapes and whether they were in compliance with the August 2002 Department of Justice legal opinion concerning interrogation. The CIA refused to provide this and the other detention and interrogation documents to the committee as requested, despite a second written request to CIA Director Goss in September 2005.”
Let’s see the release of these letters. And more than that: Rockefeller is pledging a full investigation in the Senate intelligence committee. Once again, Matt has it right. Rockefeller needs to start snitching.