January 16, 2008

CIA tapes: Judiciary Democrats call for special counsel

Dems on the House Judiciary Committee called on Attorney General Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of torture videotapes.Waterboarding is a war crime. Jose Rodriguez of the CIA demands immunity from prosecution to testify.before Congress although he allegedly destroyed the tapes ... The letter comes on the eve of a House intelligence committee hearing about the destruction of those tapes, which captured CIA operatives submitting the two suspected terrorists to simulated drowning, known as waterboarding.Jose Rodriguez, the CIA official who ordered the tapes to be destroyed, will not appear in the intelligence committee's closed hearing because his lawyer alerted the committee that his client would not answer questions unless members grant him immunity, a committee aide said.His lawyer, Robert Bennett, suggested the committee needed more time to prepare for its interview with Rodriguez and delayed his hearing as a result. The CIA official wants immunity so that he will not be prosecuted for his remarks to the committee.Mukasey appointed a prosecutor to investigate whether the destruction of the tapes amounts to obstruction of justice, but Congress has not backed off from its own probe.Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Selecet Committee on Intelligence, has worked closely with Chairman Silvetre Reyes (D-Texas) and appears driven to follow through with the panel's investigation.The tapes were recorded in 2002, but Rodriguez did not order them destroyed until 2005.Intelligence officials told members of Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the tapes existed. By Patrick O'Connor 07:50 PM Be sure to read the details as these seems to indicate that Attorney General Mukasey's

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