The US Justice Department and the CIA's internal watchdog have announced a joint inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists as the latest scandal to rock US intelligence gathered steam.
The review will determine whether a full investigation is warranted.
"I welcome this inquiry and the CIA will cooperate fully," CIA Director Mike Hayden said on Saturday. "I welcome it as an opportunity to address questions that have arisen over the destruction back in 2005 of videotapes."
The House of Representative Intelligence Committee is launching its own inquiry next week. It will investigate not only why the tapes were destroyed and Congress was not notified, but also the interrogation methods that "if released, had the potential to do such grave damage to the United States of America," Committee Chairman Representative Silvestre Reyes said on Saturday.
The Senate Intelligence committee is also investigating.
Hayden told agency employees on Thursday that the recordings were destroyed out of fear the tapes would be leaked and reveal the identities of interrogators. He said the sessions were videotaped to provide an added layer of legal protection for interrogators using new, harsh methods authorized by US President George W. Bush.
The CIA's acting general counsel, John Rizzo, is preserving all remaining records related to the videotapes and their destruction. Kenneth Wainstein, an assistant attorney general, asked that they be handed over along with any relevant internal reviews.
Justice Department officials, lawyers from the CIA general counsel's office and CIA Inspector General John Helgerson will meet early this week to begin the preliminary inquiry.
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