CIA subpoenaed

After the event of 11 September al-Qaida members were hunted by all the secret agencies in America and terrorists are treated harshly at the interrogation. It is a matter widely known and the media approached it frequently. Still, now the Congress is dealing with an older event regarding the harsh interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects in 2002 by the CIA and not because it is really interested in what happened to the terrorists, but because the tapes documenting the investigation were destroyed in 2005. The House Intelligence Committee launched an entire trial of the event and among the first ones that received a subpoena on Thursday was Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service who directed that secret interrogation videotapes to be destroyed. The hearing on 16 January is more a formality due to the fact that Rodriguez is ready to tell the truth or at least what he thinks is the truth; however, his attorney, Robert Bennett, who also once represented President Clinton, two former secretaries of defense and New York Times reporter Judith Miller, said that it is better to issue a subpoena. Some of the questions that the House Intelligence Committee has are: who authorized the tapes' destruction; who in the CIA, Justice Department and White House knew about it and when; and why Congress was not fully informed. And the most important question remains what was on the tape so compromising that it had to be destroyed. For all this to find an answer, the CIA opened files to congressional investigators Thursday, inviting them to the agency's Virginia headquarters to begin reviewing documents and records related to the videotapes. Bush assured in repeatedly occasions that he first found out about the destruction earlier this month CIA Director Michael Hayden briefed him. Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes is leading the investigation and on his list of witness that is still unfinished there are names like Alberto Gonzales, who served as White House counsel and then attorney general, who advised against the destruction. Another one is John Bellinger, then a lawyer at the National Security Council, who also came against the destruction. Both Gonzales and Bellinger refused to make any comments, but the fact that White House recommended in 2003 that the tapes should not be destroyed raises the question who then ordered it. Reyes will start the investigation on 16 January with testimony from Rodriguez and acting CIA general counsel John Rizzo, who received CIA approval for the testifying. Furthermore there is also the request for CIA attorneys Steve Hermes, Robert Eatinger, Elizabeth Vogt and John McPherson, former CIA directors Porter Goss and George Tenet, former deputy director of operations, James L. Pavitt and former general counsel Scott Muller to testify before the committee. Besides witness, Reyes is using also documents like a May 2004 memo Muller wrote recording details of a meeting with White House officials. The meeting took place right after the scandal with the unfolding Abu Ghraib prison abuse and the White House pleaded against the destruction. Reyes and the committee's top Republican, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, requested for all documents, cables and records regarding the taping of detainee interrogations to be delivered and also demanded for testimony from Rizzo and Rodriguez at a planned December 18 hearing, but the CIA showed they are not so willing to cooperate and stalled the fulfilling of the request. The matter might become a criminal case and the Justice Department was called in a federal judge courtroom Friday to determine whether the destruction of the tapes violated a court order to preserve evidence about detainees. The outcome of the story is pending until after January, so stay connected.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_go_co/cia_videotapes;_ylt=AtNgB0vu_TUPetN2tDdbxKes0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

These news are brought to you by CantellTV, its technology partner SigEx Telecom and its founder Chris Cantell. CantellTV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with enhanced communications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface. CantellTV has relationships with a growing network of international clients delivering millions of videos per day with more than 50,000 new videos uploaded and 200 hours of new TV shows broadcasted daily to a wide range of viewers, from 5 to 7 year olds of LiveCartoons; to 16 to 24 year old active social users of MyJumps; to fortune 50 corporate clients utilizing enhanced broadcasting services. CantellTV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers. Chris Cantell retains consulting arrangements with several pre-IPO companies.

Edited by Iveta Nagyova