Bush Administration Prohibited from Destroying CIA Tapes

In June of 2005, federal courts prohibited the Bush administration from disposing of evidence of detainee torture and abuse five months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some its abusive interrogation tactics.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. had ordered the Bush Administration to safeguard,

''all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

President Bush conveniently said he "has no recollection" of videotapes of CIA interrogations of some al Qaeda suspects or of plans to destroy the tapes, a White House spokeswoman said.