Washington: No one will be charged in the destruction of CIA videotapes of interrogations of suspected terrorists, a Justice Department official said Tuesday.
The official said that another part of the criminal investigation is continuing into whether interrogators went beyond the legal guidance given them on treatment of the suspects during questioning. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the conclusion about the videotapes has not been officially announced.
The CIA destroyed its cache of 92 videos of two al-Qaida operatives, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri, being waterboarded in 2005.
Jose Rodriguez, the agency`s top clandestine officer, worried the 92 tapes would be "devastating" to the CIA if they ever surfaced. He approved the destruction of the tapes.
Rodriguez`s order was at odds with years of directives from CIA lawyers and the White House.
Bureau Report
