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Politics

Hayden's tape testimony to panel has gaps

He says he can't answer all questions because he wasn't there when the tapes were trashed.

By Washington Post
Published December 12, 2007

WASHINGTON - CIA director Michael Hayden told the Senate intelligence committee in a closed hearing Tuesday that he was unable to answer key questions about the destruction of interrogation videotapes because the decisions were made before he worked at the CIA.

Hayden said that because the tapes were made in 2002 under CIA director George Tenet, and were destroyed in 2005 under another director, former Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., he was unable to answer all the committee's questions.

"Other people in the agency know about this far better than I," Hayden said.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the intelligence panel's chairman, said the hearing was "useful and not yet complete" because of Hayden's inability to supply crucial information, including who authorized the destruction of videotapes and why lawmakers were not told about it sooner, or at all.

Hayden disclosed last week that the CIA destroyed recordings of the interrogations of suspected al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah and another senior captive, identified by intelligence officials as Abd al-Rahim Nashiri.

He said the destruction was necessary to protect the identities of CIA personnel who appear on the tapes, but many lawmakers and defense attorneys have alleged it was an attempt to cover up illegal torture.

One former senior intelligence official said Tuesday that the recordings were contained on older-style videocassettes, rather than modern digital tapes or disks, and that no verbatim transcripts were made. Instead, results of the interrogations were contained in classified summaries, the official said.

Hayden's appearance followed disclosures by a former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, who said that the use of a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding on Zubaydah elicited information that "probably saved lives" but also amounted to torture.

Kiriakou's public remarks prompted Hayden to send a reminder to CIA employees Tuesday about the importance of not disclosing classified information, intelligence officials said.

The Justice Department and the CIA inspector general have launched a joint inquiry into whether CIA officials obstructed justice or tampered with evidence by destroying the videotapes after federal courts had ordered the government to preserve materials related to interrogations.

The House and Senate intelligence committees have announced their own investigations of the tape destruction, and Hayden is scheduled to participate in another closed-door hearing before the House panel today.

[Last modified December 12, 2007, 01:21:20]