9/11 Defense Counsel on Proposed Destruction of CIA Emails
Attorneys for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, said the following today in a statement:
WASHINGTON, DC-Today, the legal team representing Ammar al Baluchi submitted its opposition to the CIA's plan to destroy its emails from 2003 to 2006.
On August 18, 2014, the National Archives recommended approval of a CIA plan to destroy its email records since 1990 after it transitions to a new system. This plan would permit the
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Attorneys for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, said the following today in a statement:
WASHINGTON, DC-Today, the legal team representing Ammar al Baluchi submitted its opposition to the CIA's plan to destroy its emails from 2003 to 2006.
On August 18, 2014, the National Archives recommended approval of a CIA plan to destroy its email records since 1990 after it transitions to a new system. This plan would permit the CIA to destroy records unless an employee considered the email important and filed it separately. The National Archives recommendation, and the letter opposing the destruction, may be found a thttp://www.gitmowatch.com/guantanamo-bay-documents/ .
"The CIA apparently plans to destroy emails from the period when it tortured Mr. al Baluchi and other men in secret detention," said attorney James Connell. "Given the CIA's record of destroying torture videotapes, it cannot be trusted with the power to destroy its emails as well."
In 2009, federal authorities acknowledged that the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes showing the interrogation of men in CIA detention.
James Connell and Lt Col Sterling Thomas, United States Air Force, are detailed counsel for Ammar al Baluchi, also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.
Wells C. Bennett was Managing Editor of Lawfare and a Fellow in National Security Law at the Brookings Institution. Before coming to Brookings, he was an Associate at Arnold & Porter LLP.
