Death -- or at least serious disabling -- of hope for quick court action on CIA tapes

A federal judge on Friday refused, at least for now, to order a hearing at which the government would have to explain in detail the destruction of C.I.A. videotapes showing the harsh interrogation of two suspected Al Qaeda operatives.

District Judge Henry H. Kennedy refused a request by lawyers for a dozen Yemeni prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he order such a hearing. Instead, he took the matter under advisement and said he would rule later.

But Judge Kennedy, who heard a motion from the prisoners’ lawyers, appeared at one point to be at least partially swayed by Bush administration lawyers that he should not get more deeply involved while Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey is undertaking one of at least three inquiries into the tapes’ destruction.

“Why should the court not permit the Department of Justice to do just that?” Judge Kennedy asked David H. Remes, a lawyer for the detainees.

For Mr. Remes, the answer was simple. “Plainly, the government wants only foxes guarding the henhouse,” he asserted in his motion. Considering the government’s behavior so far, Mr. Remes argued, the Justice Department is not entitled to a presumption that it will do the right thing. ...New York Times ...

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Kennedy signaled he had concerns about Remes' request, saying it was much broader than his original request filed Dec. 9 after the New York Times published a story revealing the videotapes destruction. Remes and other lawyers originally petitioned for a court inquiry into whether the judge's order to preserve records of abuse or torture in Guantanamo had been violated. ...Washington Post ...

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Yesterday, the James Madison Project -- a good-government, anti-secrecy non-profit -- filed suit in federal court to get the CIA to disclose documents related to the 2005 destruction of the interrogation videotapes. Apparently the JMP recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents, and the lawsuit is to expedite the processing of that FOIA. ...Muckraker ...