No One Charged In Destruction Of CIA Interrogation Tapes

NPR has learned that no one will be held responsible for the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes that showed people being waterboarded. The statute of limitations has run out on the destruction and the prosecutor has decided there wasn't enough evidence to bring people up on charges, reports NPR's Carrie Johnson.

Jose Rodriguez, a 30 year veteran of the CIA, ordered the destruction of the videos in 2005, shortly after the photos of detainee abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison were released.

John Durham, the prosecutor in the case, declined to comment, but Johnson reports that his remit was broadened last year, and another investigation into CIA interrogations is continuing.

Last year, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expanded Durham’s mandate and asked him to lead an inquiry into whether any CIA personnel or contractors had broken the law by using harsh interrogation methods against terrorism suspects, that went beyond the methods approved by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. That inquiry continues and is active, the two sources said.

For a quick primer on what was on the tapes, you can go here. And much of NPR's coverage of the issue when it was first revealed is here.