White House Finally Issues Preservation Order, Days After Destruction Of Torture Tapes Revealed
White House Finally Issues Preservation Order, Days After Destruction Of Torture Tapes Revealed
After the media revealed last Thursday evening that the CIA had destroyed at least two torture tapes, both the White House and the Department of Justice delayed in sending out a preservation order ensuring that federal government employees did not undertake any further acts of destroying evidence.
Lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights representing Guantanamo Bay detainee Majid Khan warned in a Nov. 29 filing that, “absent a preservation order, there is substantial risk that the torture evidence will disappear.”
On Friday’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Georgetown Law professor Neal Katyal — who successfully argued the Hamdan decision in front of the Supreme Court — expressed concern that further documents might be destroyed because the administration was delaying the issuance of a preservation order:
I am a little dismayed that [Attorney General Michael Mukasey] hasn’t done what I believe Attorney General Ed Meese did right when the Iran contra scandal broke, which was issue a preservation order — ordering all federal government employees to make sure no further documents were destroyed. Because who knows what’s being shredded right now as we speak.
Watch it:
In today’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Dana Perino said that, “this weekend,” the White House counsel sent out a notice to “all employees” ordering them to preserve documents and evidence. Unfortunately, the order came much later than it should have.
UPDATE: In 2003, when the Justice Department first contacted the White House about the Plame investigation, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales waited 12 hours “to inform the White House staff that it must ‘preserve all materials‘ relevant to the investigation.”
UPDATE II: Perino says she’s “not allowed” to comment on Bush’s reaction to the destruction of the tapes:
Q Dana, is the President concerned about the impact on the CIA’s reputation and its integrity, not just here but around the world? I mean, there’s been similar episodes — we don’t know the full scope of this — but we know what we know, based on his point, that may be comparable to Abu Ghraib, where there were photos that were released –
MS. PERINO: No. No.
Q — the President spoke extensively about that.
MS. PERINO: Well, one, I haven’t — I’m not allowed to characterize the President’s reaction to this, but what I can tell you is that he — as I said Friday, he has complete confidence in General Hayden, and that remains.
Transcript:
QUESTION: Has the White House counsel directed everybody here to preserve all the documents?
PERINO: Yes.
QUESTION: A formal order has gone out?
PERINO: Yes.
QUESTION: And in what form? Was it a letter…
PERINO: As they usually do, it’s a notice that goes to all employees.
QUESTION: And it said — can you tell us what it says?
PERINO: I don’t remember. I don’t have it with me. I received it and (inaudible) preserve the documents, or preserve what you know. I just — I can’t remember exactly what the language was, but we’ll try to get it for you. It came out this weekend.
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47 Responses to “White House Finally Issues Preservation Order, Days After Destruction Of Torture Tapes Revealed”
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Do you not think they have destroyed all relevant material already?
December 10th, 2007 at 2:06 pm“Unfortunately, the order came a couple days later than it should have.”
There’s the whole story.
frist
December 10th, 2007 at 2:06 pmShred those emails, you idiots!
December 10th, 2007 at 2:06 pmA couple of days late? Try 6 years.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:06 pmQUESTION: And in what form? Was it a letter…
PERITONITIS: No, the president farted, and that should suffice…
December 10th, 2007 at 2:07 pmDoes this apply to emails as well?
December 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pmAnd it came with a little note at the bottom-
*Just kidding, destroy all evidence of criminal activities all the time.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
December 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pm“After we were sure all the evidence was destroyed, we “covered our asses” by issuing a pro forma order that such evidence should not be destroyed, and, here’s the good part, guess what????
it worked - they bought it, and we totally got away with it - - you should’ve seen the look on their face - -Man! we sure are good at this “crooked government” thing!!”
December 10th, 2007 at 2:09 pmThere’s something about a barn door and a lost horse, but I just can’t remember it . . . maybe Fred Thompson’s mama can be relied on for a reminder.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:11 pmDid someone tell bush? He has to be told to wash his hands after tinkling, everytime.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:14 pmOH GOOD
CIA photos ’show UK Guantanamo detainee was tortured’
Lawyers for a British resident who the US government refuses to release from Guantanamo Bay have identified the existence of photographs taken by CIA agents that they say show their client suffered horrific injuries under torture.
In a letter sent to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Britain is urged to ask the US to stop the CIA destroying the pictures.
http://news.independent.co.uk/ world/ americas/ article3239372.ece
December 10th, 2007 at 2:15 pmVictim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR
A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.
Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone, the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.
“Don’t plan on working back in Iraq. There won’t be a position here, and there won’t be a position in Houston,” Jones says she was told.
Finally, Jones says, she convinced a sympathetic guard to loan her a cell phone so she could call her father in Texas.
“I said, ‘Dad, I’ve been raped. I don’t know what to do. I’m in this container, and I’m not able to leave,’” she said. Her father called their congressman, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.
http://abcnews.go.com/ Blotter/ story?id=3977702&page=1
December 10th, 2007 at 2:17 pmYeah, he issued the order all right - AFTER everything relevant has already been destroyed.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:17 pmThe damage Bush has done to America is only the tip of the iceberg on whats to come in the next 10 years
December 10th, 2007 at 2:19 pmTorture doesn’t work to get accurate information.
As Sen. McCain. He’s the only Republican who will tell the truth: torture doesn’t work.
It’s a sad state of affairs that the current Administration refuses to believe the truth, but that doesn’t seem to impact their perverted spin on reality: torture doesn’t work.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:19 pmSo Mayja Jenera, you have NO PROBLEM with people not only violating various US laws, it appears that you’re okay with people violating international laws and treaties.
Unfortunately folks such as yourself are the first to complain when this happens in some third rate country, or when it happens to our troops. These treaties got enacted because the world as a whole felt that these were totally unacceptable.
Defend the terrorists? Please. Do you understand that what you are saying is acceptable is evidence supporting terrorism on OUR part.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pmWill all this corruption stay the test of time? Is the jury irrelevant? Is real democracy guided by the rule of law in its last throws?
December 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pmUnfortunately, the order came much later than it should have…
Like 7 years? Unfortunately, America, it’s much later than it appears.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pmIf the US was a seriuos country, the White House and Congress would be surrounded by its people DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY!!!!! WAKE UP AMERICA!
December 10th, 2007 at 2:24 pmAside from this preservation order, the courts have already demanded that “all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees” be “preserve(d) and maintain(ed).” Someone should go to jail over this.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:25 pmDoes the Preservation Order Cover Guantanamo as well ??????????
December 10th, 2007 at 2:28 pmMichael Mukasey: “Official order will take effect in 12 hours. Please don’t destroy any more evidence.” (wink, wink)
December 10th, 2007 at 2:29 pmIn a complete capitulation to Bush and the Republican war machine, Congress is expected to vote on Monday, December 10, to approve continued funding for the occupation of Iraq with NO STRINGS ATTACHED!
December 10th, 2007 at 2:30 pmThe damage Bush has done to America is only the tip of the iceberg on whats to come in the next 10 years
Comment by Anjuna Laguna — December
This is very very serious!!!! It is not a demage that will go away next year… the dollar is going down, Us’s debt is going up, and the illegal invasion/occupation has been done on borrowed money! Not to mention the US has lost all sympathy from countries around the globe! Osama Bush and Osama Chenney have prevailed!
December 10th, 2007 at 2:31 pmThis was the Last British death through hostile fire in Iraq
OVER 3 MONTHS AGO
05-Sep-2007
UK Sergeant Eddie Collins - killed Iraq - Hostile - hostile fire
TODAY IN THE US
Congress is about to vote to fund more death and destruction in Iraq
December 10th, 2007 at 2:33 pmPathetic… that WH caved in.
Comment by Frank M — December 10, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Yeah, you traitors hate it when you get caught.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:35 pmPathetic… that WH caved in.
Comment by Frank M
What’s pathetic is that people like you exist.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:36 pmThe cows are gone,
December 10th, 2007 at 2:36 pmQUICK CLOSE THE GATE!
Pathetic… that WH caved in.
Comment by Frank M — December 10, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Go back to polishing your jackboots, Frank.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:37 pmsacopenapa - I would even say Bin Laden is the winner in all of this
December 10th, 2007 at 2:40 pmYep, the barn burned down…..better see about that busted door.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:43 pmWas Darling Dana smiling and laughing as she delivered the message?
December 10th, 2007 at 2:44 pmDid she have her fingers crossed behind her back or hidden in the podium?
I would also guess the “Preservation Order” was sent out in the form of an E-mail and the tape backup of the server will fall prey to some natural disaster.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:46 pmAltering and or destroying evidence, presenting false evidence…. Hmmm, makes you wonder if the current regime has the best interests of the American People and the Constitution in mind when it conducts business.
Well, that is unless you have the IQ of a turnip…
December 10th, 2007 at 2:50 pm“White House Finally Issues Preservation Order, Days After Destruction Of Torture Tapes Revealed”
Ho, hum. The idiot President now wants to preserve order after the tape are destroyed and his claim of being clueless of this scandal. This is deja vu of lies from the Adminstration. Waxman asked WH and RNC to preserve emails. So, what else scandal will come out soon and what documents needs to be preserved from that scandal?
December 10th, 2007 at 2:58 pmSo why does this seem like a forest for the trees type issue?
I have a group of questions.
Did these folks use waterboarding, or any other “enhanced questioning technique” that would be considered torture? (I keep hearing time and time again that the CIA has already admitted that waterboarding occurred.)
Who was the ultimate source of the order to use these techniques?
When was that order given?
At that point you simply proceed with criminal actions.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:11 pmQuick! Protect those White House e-mails! Hurry!
What’s that? They were destroyed 3 years ago?….
December 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pmWhat do Spector and all the Dem Mukasey-supporters on the Senate Judiciary Committee have to say for themselves in re Mukasey’s lethargic action?
December 10th, 2007 at 3:33 pmAs I recall Meese also waited an entire weekend to call in the FBI etc, giving Ollie North and Fawn “Documents in my Panties” Hall ample opportunity to shred and otherwise cover their tracks.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:34 pmOoooh, Fawn Hall. Talk about your 80s hairdo. A fascist heart throb.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:36 pmI wasen’t going to post today..After reading this thread I am compeled to do so..First off for all the knoledgable progressives this post isn’t directed to you, you and I already know this is BS…..
I have known people employed in different gov. job’s all my life and know a few now…..In every case for the past 30 year’s every scrap of paper, even post it notes are saved, listed and copied and put into files to go to a depot for long term storage…..Boxes are labled and it is mandatory all note’s are saved…Let me say again all note’s are saved…..Any one not complying with that order is subject to fine’s, loss of job and can be prosacuted..All union’s and employees are held accountable and comply…It seem’s except this corrupt rogue administration…
For any citizen to believe this bunch of BS is dilusional and just as corrupt as the administration that is doeing these evil deed’s…All the law’s and policy’s have been in place for year’s….Everything is listed, loged in triplicate and saved with cross refrence’s……Give me a break, these rat basterd’s in the bull shit bush administration are way past due on getting put in jail..Wake up, get real, get mad and take back our country….Together in Peace and justice…Blessings
December 10th, 2007 at 3:37 pmComment by Witch1 — December 10, 2007 @ 3:37 pm
I wonder why all the talk about video tapes when we’re in the digital age. Where are all the DVD’s and other storage devices with copies of what was “filmed” - shot with digital video cameras?
Were emails with attached video files sent from Gitmo or elsewhere? Or are those emails missing too?
December 10th, 2007 at 3:57 pm#43 Saint, my guess is all is being distroyed as we type..Given the fact most evil in charge had massive van’s at his Wyoming home several month’s ago shredding everything in sight and his coment’s he never put’s anythin in print, likely every one else does and send’s it to him…”Over 5 million email’s missing.”, Yah! right….My friend’s that work in the Gov. office’s must copy every email they send and are sent to them in triplicate every day no matter how mundane….Everything is kept and catalogued down to the post it note’s and scribbles….Week by week the stuff is put in boxes with cross refrences, date’s time’s, everything…..This entire thing is crap that this administration is feeding the public…The law’s for saving everything have been in place for decades and since this miserable administration has made new illegal law’s they are being given a free pass by our enabeling house and senate……Peace and justice…..Blessings
December 10th, 2007 at 4:37 pmI always knew that feller was a pretend cowboy. Hey Hoss! That’s your horse out there–no need to be shuttin’ the barn now.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:57 pmFawn Hall’s hairdo gets asked to the senior prom.
http://thumbsnap.com/v/2WxM5Y2p.jpg
December 10th, 2007 at 5:18 pmOf course, the delay has absolutely nothing to do with giving folks a chance to clean up the eviden…… uh, I meant mess.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:03 pmQuick! Call the Geek Squad! We’ll find out who had their hard drives scrubbed.
http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB119621772122306160.html
December 10th, 2007 at 6:12 pm