Judge Wants DOJ Explanation on Investigation of CIA Tape Destruction

The Blog of Legal Times reported yesterday that Department of Justice prosecutor John Durham may soon be called into court to address his handling of the investigation into the destruction of CIA tapes documenting torture. Durham let the statute of limitations expire in November, 2010 without issuing criminal indictments. The ACLU is involved in a public records lawsuit before Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the judge who ordered the CIA not to destroy the tapes in 2004. Hellerstein expressed interest in bringing Durham in to address the court.

Durham is still involved in investigating CIA interrogation of detainees alleged to have been abusive and in some cases fatal. Though the parameters of Durham’s investigation are unknown, it is thought that it may extend to include Bush Administration officials, including the authors of the torture memos, including John Yoo and Jay Bybee.

The full Blog of Legal Times article is available here.