U.S. asks judge to stay clear of CIA probe: The Swamp
The Swamp
Posted December 21, 2007 12:57 PM
The Swamp

by James Oliphant

The government Friday implored a federal judge to stay out of an ongoing investigation of the destruction of interrogation videos by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Arguing before U.S District Court Judge Henry Kennedy, the Justice Department said for Kennedy to launch an inquiry into the tapes' destruction would be "unwise" and "imprudent."

"An evidentiary hearing would compromise the Department of Justice's proceeding," said government lawyer Jody Hunt.

But a lawyer for 11 Guantanamo Bay detainees, who asked Kennedy to conduct such an inquiry, contended the department had no right to ask the court to stay clear. "The Justice Department may have sanctioned the destruction of these videotapes," said David Remes. "This is largely the fox in charge of the henhouse."

The Justice Department probe is being run by Kenneth Wainstein, the head of the department's National Security Division. Hunt pledged to keep Kennedy informed of its conclusions. Congress has also launched its own investigation.

When the New York Times reported on the tapes destruction earlier this month, Remes asked Kennedy to hold a hearing on whether the government violated Kennedy's 2005 order that forbade destruction of evidence relating to abusive interrogation techniques at Guantanamo. Remes represents 11 detainees who are challenging their extended imprisonment. He appeared Friday to argue his request. Kennedy has yet to rule on whether such an inquiry will take place.

The government contended that such a probe would be inappropriate, not only because of the ongoing internal investigation, but because the tapes in question didn't relate to Kennedy's order. Hunt said that the tapes, which reportedly showed the interrogation of two members of al-Qaeda, were recorded in 2002, while the two were not yet at Guantanamo. For that reason, he said, the two couldn't have had knowledge of abusive techniques used there. (They were destroyed in November 2005.)

Remes said that the fact that the CIA admitted to destroying the tapes suggests that further evidence may have been tampered with or destroyed. "I have to say, your honor, that where there's smoke, there's fire," he told Kennedy.

One of the detainees is known as Abu Zubydah, a so-called "high value" government target, who was held in a secret CIA prison before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. His lawyers say he was subjected to torture, including waterboarding.

This week, Zubydah's lawyers filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington asking that he be released. One of his lawyers is Joseph Marguiles, a law professor at Northwestern University School of Law.

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Comments

"WHITE HOUSE STAFFERS SPEAK"

CIRCUMVENTING THE LAW IS NOT A CRIME, NOT ALLOWING US TO CIRCUMVENT THE LAW IS.

RENDERING, TORTURING, DETAINING IS NOT A CRIME. THIS WHITE HOUSE IS NATION OF NO LAWS, NO JUSTICE, NO HABEAUS RIGHTS, NO HUMANITY TO MANKIND, KATRINA CRY BABIES.

SO LITTLE FEDERAL JUDGE - BACKOFF YOUR LITTLE INVESTIGATION TO WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW! WE LIED AND HE DIDN'T RECALL. HE LIED AND SHE DIDN'T RECALL, THEY LIED AND THEY ALL COULDN'T RECALL.

WHILE THE CIA HAS A DUSTY FARGO MOMENT, "THE GREAT HAWAIIAN GRASS SKIRT DISEASE.

THE LACKOFNUKINUKI NUKI!

AMERICA AWAITS A TRUE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW AS ITS GAVEL AND GUIDE TO THE HUMANITY AND FREEDOMS OF ALL PERSON(S)ALIKE.

EVEN IN LOUISANA - SENATOR VITTER MR. FILLIBUSTER HIMSELF.

BY THE WAY, HOW IS THE PROSTITUTE DOING, DID YOU GET HER A CHRISTMAS GIFT?

WE SEE YOU GAVE LOUSIANA ONE LIVE ON MSNBC, RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR SECRET ROUNDEVEAU. HO HO HO!


Another diversionary ruse from the administration. It is wonderful that the judge ruled that way.

These folks never want any of their crimes to come out.

So what would Bush do? Precedent says, the inquiry is held. The appropriate people would be charged. Then Bush would get pressure from the right wing zealots and radio stations. Then Bush would pardon the offenders.

What a great country! (sarcasm now off)


Funny, this is the AP headline given the same story and how they reported it. Little different presentation that the Chicago LIBune distorter reporters:

Judge seems wary of opening CIA inquiry By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago


A federal judge appeared reluctant Friday to investigate the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes while the Justice Department is conducting its own inquiry.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy is considering whether to delve into the matter and, if so, how deeply. The Bush administration is urging him to back off while it investigates.

"Why should the court not permit the Department of Justice to do just that?" Kennedy asked at a court hearing.

By the way Oliphant, how come you were able to report on Fox News turning down an ad but not NBC News turning down the thank you troops ads?

Jim Oliphant: I'm suppose to be an objective and balanced reporter?!?!? Perish the thought!


HAVEN'T WE HAD ENOUGH OF THE FOX INVESTIGATING THE HENHOUSE? SOON THERE WON'T BE ANY HENS LEFT.


Another impeachable offense shucked aside.


Something Mr. Oliphant didn't tell the readers: the attorney for the detainees, David Remes, gave $500 to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in July of this year.

Funny how those little partisan Democrat connections always seem to be left out of the DNC Swamp stories.


Add the destroyed torture tapes to the long line of impeachable offenses that this criminal Republican administration is trying to hide from the publics eye.


From the internet (s):

Yesterday afternoon, the White House confirmed that a quickly contained blaze isolated to a storage room utility closet on the third floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office building destroyed the following records:

all records pertaining to:

All Executive Branch internal correspondence since January, 2001
All RNC computer servers, back-up servers, and archival back-ups
The original Downing Street Memo and associated notes
Valerie Plame and the White House investigation of the leak (W.H. UPDATE: no records of Valerie Plame investigation destroyed as there was no investigation)
Bandar Bush
God’s personal correspondence with President Bush including those related to the invasion of Iraq
No-bid Halliburton contracts
War crimes committed by U.S. contractors in Iraq
Troop body armor tests and procurement orders
Jessica Lynch
The pulling down of the Saddam statue by non-Iraqis
All unaccounted for money in Iraq
The "troops" fault to not guard the weapons stockpile in Iraq
Abu Ghraib
Scuttling of the original Abramoff investigation, by the President
Federal court appointees and their qualifications and records
Extraordinary rendition
Negroponte’s activities in Iraq
Judith Miller’s embedded reporting and using her influence to override generals
Bombing Al-Jazeera television
"Mission Accomplished"
Bribing and threatening of journalists and planting of stories in the U.S and Iraq
Stopping the NY Times from revealing White House secret spying on Americans
Jeff Gannon/Guckert
De-baathification and the breakup of the Iraqi army
Swift Boat vets
Terror alerts
Bumper sticker and T-shirt slogan monitoring
Florida 2000 voter suppression
Florida 2000 election over-votes
Bush v. Gore court papers
Richard Clark’s warnings about abandoning anti-terror and a returning to the military-industrial profiteering of the cold war
Pre 9/11 domestic spying
The Vice Presidents Energy Task Force and all meetings dividing up Iraq’s oil fields pre 9/11
Bush’s vacation records
Enron and all related activities during California’s "energy crisis"
The accompanying Gray Davis recall and Ken Lay meetings
The Congressional records relating to passing legislation with last second changes, midnight votes, and the minority excluded from committee meetings.
The Missile defense shield
The U.S. national debt and holders of the debt
The Healthy Forest legislation and associated crop yields
The Clear Skies legislation and new acceptable levels of toxic emissions
Able Danger and the post-it notes hiding Mohammad Atta
The "Bin Laden determined to Strike in U.S." PDB
All copies of "My Pet Goat"
Extrication of Saudis after 9/11, especially Saudis named "Bin Laden"
The 9/11 commission
All confiscated video tapes from 9/11 showing impact with Pentagon
Bush and Cheney’s joint un-sworn "conversation" with the 9/11 commission
Library checkout and Amazon shopping records of every American
Bin Laden’s actual location after he "escaped" from Tora Bora
Yellowcake documents from Niger
Curveball
Colin Powell’s United Nations speech
Ahmad Chalabi
Attempts to dismantle PBS
Using FCC’s fines to quash dissent
The IRS collection of political affiliations
Using American troops as speech props for Presidential speeches
Diebold
Ohio voter suppression
Terri Schiavo and the emergency session of Congress
Questioning the full faith and credit of the United States to scare people into dismantling Social Security
Payola related to the Medicare bill
Targeting and surveillance of peace lovers as terrorists
Hurricane Katrina
Oil profits and tens of billions of dollars of general fund giveaways to oil companies
Multiple consecutive tours of combat for National Guardsmen
The $200 million bridges to nowhere
New Orleans levies
Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court
Bill Frist and the FEC and insider trading
Alito and the Vanguard Fund
Bob Ney of Ohio and Coingate
Duke Cunningham of San Diego and related bribes and treason
The U.S. Attorney firings of the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Duke Cunningham and who was pursuing the investigation to the White House.
Tom Delay’s redistricting in TX and using anti-terror assets to track down legislators
Tom Delay’s ethics violations
Jack Abramoff
NSA wiretapping without warrants
The failing grade from the 9/11 commission
Data mining and reading your mail
The 5 million missing emails

also destroyed were all records related to:

Bush’s cocaine use and failure to take the ANG drug test
Bush’s drunk driving
Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service
Bush’s Arbusto stock sale, Saudi bailout, and lack of SEC follow-up
Bush’s insider trading at Harken and Bush 41’s quashing of the investigation
Bush’s stealing of a public stadium from the taxpayers of Texas
Cheney's Wyoming residency papers
Police response to Cheney shooting a man in the face after drinking
Push-polling smear on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primary
All original video masters of Steven Colbert’s Press Corps dinner roast

Countless other records and computer systems were apparently stored in the 3 foot by 3 foot utility closet, the content of which shall be revealed as destroyed as necessary pending any future investigations.

BREAKING: word that the Constitution of the United States was inexplicably consumed by flames in its nuclear blast-proof storage case by a glowing ember that apparently drifted from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and into a thermal exhaust port that lead directly to the Constitution. No plans to reconstruct the document are pending.


: : :

UPDATE:

Also confirmed destroyed:

All records of clients of the DC Madame
All IMs and emails between Republican congressmen and underage Congressional staffers
Secret Service records of all people having meetings with the President and Vice President since January 2001
All recorded promises, affirmations, and statements by Democratic Congressional leaders to hold the Administration accountable


: : :

UPDATE 2

Continuing reports of records stored in the third floor closet and subsequently destroyed also include all records pertaining to:

Pat Tillman
Free Speech zones
Iranian Nuclear Program National Intelligence Estimate
Guantanamo
FEMA staged news conferences
New Orleans reconstruction contracts
and
Administration banning of U.S. meat companies from inspecting all of their meat

: : :

UPDATE 3

Still more records reported completely destroyed include all items relating to:

Alberto Gonzales’ memory (and "meeting" with Ashcroft in hospital)
De-listed superfund toxic waste dump sites
The original Nixon Tapes
"Missing" Weapons of Mass Destruction from Iraq
Bernard Kerik’s Homeland Security application form
and tragically
Joe Lieberman’s Democratic Party membership card

: : :

UPDATE 4

Apparently the quantity of records destroyed was a result of a broken water pipe that has been scheduled for repair since 2001. As the sprinkler system was not functioning, the Blackwater employees hired to guard the records could only throw more records onto the flames in an attempt to contain them.

Additional records from a neighboring closet presently unaccounted for that are believed to have been destroyed in the fire now include items related to:

All subpoenas issued by the U.S. Congress to White House employees
Walter Reed facility maintenance
NASA’s evidence of global warming (redacted and sealed by the administration)
Looting of the Native American Trust Fund
Forensic reports from 2001 anthrax attacks against key Democrats and media
Dubai Ports deal
Under-funding of Russian loose nuclear materials security programs
Guidelines for putting American citizens on no-fly and terror watch lists
The Vice President’s red phone that directly connects the Vice-President’s office to the on-air Fox news desk (possibly salvageable)

More details of the devastating fire to come...


In other words, "Please don't pay any attention to what we are doing. You might find things we don't want the world to find out about. Like we torture people, we spy on our citizens, we lie when former professional football players are killed by their own troops, we fire competent employees because they won't sign a loyalty oath, we send people to their death based on lies (or "bad intelligence"), we leak the names of agents serving their country if they say things we don't like, we destroy evidence (tapes, e-mail) that might allow the truth of our perfidious behavior to be exposed to the harsh light of public opinion."

Yep, more impeachable offenses from the most impeachable administration since Nixon. Still, never thought I'd actually miss Nixon. bu$h makes tricky dicky look like a fairly rational policitian who actually gave a damn abouot the country,instead of, oh, say... the republicrite organization.


The Bush 'folk' are turning justice inside out.

Ring a bell, anyone?


Eight Islamic fanatics sre supposed to get relief what about their victims who are dead?
The idea that this judge can be fair is ludicrous.
My grandcildren are threatened by Islamic Jihadist suicide bombers and you liberals only want civil rights for human animals who kill routinely innocent women and children while hiding in mosques,hospitals and schools. Shame on you. You are not Americans and you should move to a Muslim country where your wives can where burkas and be treated as slaves. You are anti-American and I have no use for you or the Judge he is not Solomon. Jerry White, Springfield, IL


Jerry White, from Springfield,

You are a twit, at t#@t, a twinkie. A usless ☁ clinging to the pantaloons of a long haired kitty kat. A buffoon, a bluffer, a fluffer, a noisy squeaking mouse shouting irrelevancies at nonexistent windmills turning in your fetid, fevered, twisting little mind.

Have a pleasant Xmas.


My grandcildren are threatened by Islamic Jihadist suicide bombers and you liberals only want civil rights for human animals who kill routinely innocent women and children while hiding in mosques,hospitals and schools. Shame on you. You are not Americans and you should move to a Muslim country where your wives can where burkas and be treated as slaves. You are anti-American and I have no use for you or the Judge he is not Solomon. Jerry White, Springfield, IL

Posted by: Jerry White | December 21, 2007 8:02 PM


Scary Jerry,

To bad your REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT hasn't "found" Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive" like he promised he would IN 2001, huh? then maybe Osama would quit hiding your bushes and scaring your "gulp" grandchildren everytime they go out to shovel your driveway....


I'm going to give jerry white two things for the pagan based upcoming observation of the winter solstice - a handkerchief so he can wipe the foam off his mouth, and a school voucher so he can finish fifth grade and learn how to spell.

"....wives can where burkas..." indeed.

"wear" jerry, WEAR. And it's "burkha", not "burka". But why should anyone as intellectually incurious as jerry actually know anything about the people he fears?


Posted by: Justice Story | December 21, 2007 5:37 PM


I see that Bruce has come up with another new name to post with.


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