DID CIA VIOLATE THE FEDERAL RECORDS ACT?

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 122
December 12, 2007


DID CIA VIOLATE THE FEDERAL RECORDS ACT?

Even if the videotapes of interrogation sessions that were destroyed by
the Central Intelligence Agency showed nothing illegal or untoward,
their destruction could still be a violation of the federal law which
requires the preservation of official records, suggested Rep. Henry
Waxman (D-CA) yesterday.

Rep. Waxman asked Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein to
render a judgment as to whether the destruction of the videotapes was
consistent with the law.

"I would like your opinion on whether the CIA's destruction of these
videotapes was in accordance with the Federal Records Act and your
implementing regulations," Waxman wrote on December 11.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_cr/waxman121107.pdf

CIA's records management failures, including inadequate preservation of
audiovisual records, are a longstanding concern of the National Archives
and Records Administration.

"Videos stored in the ARC [CIA Agency Records Center] are in danger of
catastrophic loss due to tape binder failure and/or fungal
contamination," the Archives found in a 2000 audit of CIA records
management practices.

And some CIA employees seemed oblivious to the laws governing record
preservation, NARA reported.

"Some of the agency personnel who create and maintain special media do
not recognize them as federal records that may be disposed only in
accordance with NARA-approved schedules," the Archives audit found.

The 2000 audit of "Records Management in the Central Intelligence
Agency," cited in Rep. Waxman's letter, was obtained by the Federation
of American Scientists under the Freedom of Information Act and may be
found here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/naracia.html

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) yesterday asked the White House to explicitly
confirm that a White House directive to preserve records related to the
destruction of CIA videotapes encompassed all White House records.

"In light of the Office of the Vice President's record of fatuous
arguments that it is not subject to the authority of the President,
please also confirm that the directive included the Office of the Vice
President and that the Office of the Vice President intends to comply,"
Sen. Biden wrote.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_cr/biden121107.pdf

Sen. Biden was apparently referring to the Vice President's position,
recently endorsed by the Justice Department, that his Office is not an
"executive branch entity" for purposes of classification oversight.


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