Central Intelligence Agency chief Michael Hayden The United States Congress has launched its own inquiry into a decision by the U.S spy agency to destroy tapes of interrogations of terror suspects, with Central Intelligence Agency chief Michael Hayden testifying before lawmakers this week. The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, says Hayden will appear before his panel. The CIA director disclosed the destroyed videotapes last Thursday, after he got word that their existence had been uncovered by the news media. The tapes which were made in 2002, showed the interrogation of top terror suspects. They were destroyed in 2005, and Congressional critics charge that could amount to tampering with legal evidence and obstruction of justice . Democrat Joe Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former chair of the Judiciary panel , says the preliminary joint inquiry by the Justice Department and the CIA announced yesterday is not enough. The Bush administration has refused to specify which methods are permitted, but critics charge some amount to torture, including a procedure known as waterboarding , which simulates drowning. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has called for the White House to publicly disavow the use of harsh interrogation techniques. Senator McCain, a former Vietnam War era prisoner of war , has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on the treatment of detainees in the war on terror . He is campaigning to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
Central Intelligence Agency chief The United States Congress has launched its own inquiry into a decision by the U.S spy agency to destroy tapes of interrogations of terror suspects, with Central Intelligence Agency chief testifying before lawmakers this week. The Chairman of the Senate , Democrat of West Virginia, says Hayden will appear before his panel. The CIA director disclosed the destroyed videotapes last Thursday, after he got word that their existence had been uncovered by the news media. The tapes which were made in 2002, showed the interrogation of top terror suspects. They were destroyed in 2005, and Congressional critics charge that could amount to tampering with legal evidence and . Democrat Joe Biden of Delaware, chairman of the and former chair of the , says the preliminary joint inquiry by the and the CIA announced yesterday is not enough. The Bush administration has refused to specify which methods are permitted, but critics charge some amount to torture, including a procedure known as , which simulates drowning. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has called for the to publicly disavow the use of harsh interrogation techniques. Senator McCain, a former era , has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on the treatment of detainees in the . He is campaigning to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
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Michael Hayden
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Michael Hayden
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Intelligence Committee, Democrat Jay Rockefeller
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obstruction of justice
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee
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Judiciary panel
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Justice Department
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waterboarding
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White House
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Vietnam War era prisoner of war
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war on terror