Contempt?

(Via Firedoglake)

Late yesterday, a federal judge said he is considering holding the Central Intelligence Agency in contempt for destroying videotapes depicting the interrogation of al Qaeda detainees. Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ordered the CIA to identify everything that it had destroyed and also catalogue all summaries, transcripts, information on witnesses and any relevant documents or memoranda within 30 days after an order is entered.

Wouldn't that be nice?

While its hopelessly unlikely that a contempt order would get enforced, it is nice to see that some reaction to the obvious problem of "You were ordered to preserve and maintain all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment and abuse of detainees - and you destroyed videotapes of detainee interrogations."

The obvious wiggle room is that the order might be construed as pertaining only to detainees at Guantanamo, and the taped interrogations took place in Thailand. But the detainees had been moved to Gitmo - and this was not the only judicial order.

At least, we'll get some squirming - but I like to hope for a Fitzgerald-style inquiry.