Kean says CIA is parsing words on interrogation tapes

Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean (R), a co-chairman of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, criticized the CIA Monday for impeding the panel’s work.

{mosads}Kean said CIA tapes that showed interrogations of suspected terrorists should have been turned over to the panel, adding that they fell under a blanket request for information from the intelligence agency. The CIA has since destroyed the tapes, a move that has caused great controversy and criticism from both parties.

“I’m not a lawyer and I’m not sure if they broke the law or not,” Kean said on CNN. “But what they did do is, I think, try to impede our investigation, because we asked for legitimate — anything to do with those detainees, because they were the ones who knew most about the plot of 9/11 and that was our mandate. And we asked the CIA for everything having to do with those and we asked them not on one occasion but three and four and five and six occasions, and those tapes were not made available to us.”

The CIA argues that the tapes were not specifically requested but Kean, who noted that the panel was unaware of the existence of the tapes, said the agency is just parsing its words.

“We asked for every single thing that they had,” Kean stated. “And then my vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, looked the director of the CIA in the face, and said, ‘Look, even if we haven’t asked for something, if it’s pertinent to our investigation, make it available to us.’ And our staff asked again and again of their staff and the tapes were not given to us.”

The commission, in its final report, praised the CIA for its cooperation but Kean said in light of the new information he would revise that statements “perhaps a bit.”