The Stonewall Continues

And here's a reality check: Does anyone actually think Miers was the decision-maker here? Not only was she a notorious lightweight, but the go-to-guy on such issues is Vice President Cheney's chief of staff David Addington. So what did Addington know and when did he know it?

Perino acknowledged on Monday that White House Counsel Fred Fielding has directed White House employees to preserve documents related to the destruction of the tapes.

Perhaps sharing my suspicions, Sen. Joe Biden sent Fielding a letter yesterday with the following request: "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 . . . confirm that the directive included the Office of the Vice President and that the Office of the Vice President intends to comply."

Meanwhile, Pamela Hess writes for the Associated Press: "CIA Director Michael Hayden knew of the terrorist interrogation videotapes now at the center of controversy more than a year ago, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"Hayden knew 'the fact of' the destroyed videotapes late in his tenure as principal deputy director of national intelligence, a post he held from April 2005 to May 2006, he said on his way to brief the House Intelligence Committee about the unfolding investigation."

Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus write in The Washington Post that at yesterday's closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Hayden told senators "that he was unable to answer key questions about the destruction of interrogation videotapes because the decisions were made before he worked at the CIA."

They also note: "Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey declined to comment yesterday on the ongoing Justice probe or whether a special prosecutor should be appointed in the case, as was suggested by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and others.

"'I think the Justice Department is capable of doing whatever it appears needs to be done,' Mukasey said. 'The question of a special prosecutor is the most hypothetical of hypotheticals, and that isn't going to be faced until it happens. And if it has to be, it will be.'"

Under Court Order

Matt Apuzzo writes for the Associated Press: "The Bush administration was under court order not to discard evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics.

"Normally, that would force the government to defend itself against obstruction allegations. But the CIA may have an out: its clandestine network of overseas prisons.

"While judges focused on the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tried to guarantee that any evidence of detainee abuse would be preserved, the CIA was performing its toughest questioning half a world away. And by the time President Bush publicly acknowledged the secret prison system, interrogation videotapes of two terrorism suspects had been destroyed."

Opinion Watch

Robert Scheer writes in his San Francisco Chronicle opinion column: "When the CIA destroyed those prisoner interrogation videotapes, were they also destroying the truth about Sept. 11, 2001? After all, according to the 9/11 Commission report, the basic narrative of what happened on that day - and the nature of the enemy in this war on terror that Bush launched in response to the tragedy - comes from the CIA's account of what those prisoners told their torturers. The commission was never allowed to interview the prisoners, or speak with those who did, and was forced to rely on what the CIA was willing to relay instead.