Yes, in all the flair of a Saturday night WWF match, the latest battle royal in Washington is about to begin. Anyone have a guess if a special prosecutor will be called into play? Calling Patrick Fitzgerald to the white phone.
Here is an opening short snippet for a lengthy piece in the Jackson Sun
Quote:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The controversy over destroyed CIA interrogation tapes is shaping up as a turf battle involving the courts, Congress and the White House, with the Bush administration telling its constitutional coequals to stay out of the investigation.
The Justice Department says it needs time and the freedom to probe the destruction of hundreds of hours of recordings of two suspected terrorists. After Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused congressional demands for information Friday, the Justice Department filed late-night court documents urging a federal judge not to begin his own inquiry.
The administration argued it was not obligated to preserve the videotapes and told U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding information about them "could potentially complicate the ongoing efforts to arrive at a full factual understanding of the matter."
(in other words, the complication would be them facing criminal charges)
The documents represent the first time the government has addressed the issue in court. In the papers, acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey S. Bucholtz said Kennedy lacked jurisdiction and he expressed concern that the judge might order CIA officials to testify.
Congressional inquiries and criminal investigations frequently overlap and it is not uncommon for the Justice Department to ask lawmakers to ease off. The request for the court to stand down is more unusual. Judges take seriously even the suggestion that evidence was destroyed, but they also are reluctant to wade into political debates.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CIA_VIDEOTAPES?SITE=TNJAC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DE FAULT (broken link)
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