[JURIST] CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] appeared before a closed door session of the US House Intelligence Committee [official website] Wednesday to testify about the CIA's destruction of videotapes [JURIST news archive] allegedly showing the harsh interrogation of "high value" terror suspects. Committee members complained that Congress had not been fully informed of the tapes' existence or of the decision to destroy them, and Hayden admitted that the agency could have done more to make Congress aware of the situation. On Tuesday, Hayden testified [JURIST report] about the tapes before the Senate Intelligence Committee; Senate panel members noted that major questions still remained following his testimony, including who actually authorized the tapes' destruction [JURIST report]. AP has more.

Hayden acknowledged [statement text] last week that the CIA had videotaped the interrogation [JURIST report] of two terror suspects in 2002, but said that the tapes had been destroyed in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators. Several probes into the tapes' destruction have been launched, including a joint DOJ-CIA preliminary investigation [DOJ letter; JURIST report] and multiple congressional inquiries.