2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction

The CIA interrogation tapes destruction occurred on November 9, 2005. The videotapes were made by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during interrogations of Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002 at a CIA black site prison in Thailand. 90 tapes were made of Zubaydah and 2 of al-Nashiri. Twelve tapes depict interrogations using "enhanced interrogation", a euphemism for torture. The tapes and their destruction became public knowledge in December 2007. A criminal investigation by a Department of Justice special prosecutor, John Durham, decided in 2010 to not file any criminal charges related to destroying the videotapes.

The first high value detainee in CIA custody was Abu Zubaydah. He was held at a black site in Thailand starting in the spring of 2002. Near the beginning of Zubaydah's detention, a video camera was set up to continuously tape him. Tapes were also made of another early CIA detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who arrived in October. The tapes were made from April to December 2002. 90 tapes were made of Zubaydah and 2 of al-Nashiri. Twelve tapes depict interrogations using "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

Soon after the taping had stopped, CIA clandestine officers were pushing for the tapes to be destroyed. However, the General Counsel of the CIA, Scott W. Muller, advised the CIA director, George Tenet, to not destroy the tapes on the CIA's authority. Instead, Muller notified the House and Senate Intelligence Committees in February 2003 that the CIA would like to have them destroyed. Representatives Porter Goss and Jane Harman thought that would be politically and legally risky.

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