Congressman Cohen Investigates the CIA’s Destruction of Interrogation Videos

“We do have to have certain techniques to ferret out information and protect our people, but at the same time we have to respect our laws,” said Congressman Cohen during his cross-examination of one of the panel-members.

The purpose of the hearing, as Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (MI-14) explained, was to determine the “who, how, when, where, and why of the destruction of the videotapes; and most importantly, what might have been shown on them.”

After the hearing, Congressman Cohen said, “One of the most important functions of the Judiciary Committee is government oversight, as evidenced through the hearings that we conducted on the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys under former Attorney General Gonzales.”

Congressman Cohen was one of only five Representatives out of the 40-member Judiciary Committee who attended the hearing as most representatives had already left Washington to return home for the winter recess. The 2007 session ended late Wednesday night.

“The United States is supposed to be a beacon to the rest of the world,” Congressman Cohen added. “We took the lead on getting other nations to agree to the Geneva Convention rules on torture, and we need to continue to lead the world in the right direction on these matters.”

“The Bush Administration originally claimed that they weren’t beholden to the rules of the Geneva Convention when it came to detainees in the War on Terror. When Congress and the Supreme Court declared otherwise, they decided to change the definition of torture. The destruction of the tapes may very well have been an obstruction of justice.”

“Furthermore, the CIA’s rationale for the destruction of these videotapes is preposterous. They claim that they were trying to protect the identities of their interrogators, but we all know their voices and likenesses could have been very easily redacted from the videos before they were shown to Congress or the public. The only plausible explanation for their destruction is that the CIA never wanted these videotapes to be seen by anyone, least of all the American people.”

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Contact:
Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, Congressman Cohen (202) 225-3265/ (202) 368-9275
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, (202) 225-3265 / (202) 320-2817