Judge Refuses to Step Into CIA Tape Case

A federal judge today denied a request by a lawyer representing terrorism suspects that he open hearings into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Judge Henry H. Kennedy said that he had no evidence that the Bush administration had defied court orders and that the Justice Department's own investigation would suffice.

The lawyers had not "presented anything to cause this court to question whether the Department of Justice will follow the facts wherever they may lead and live up to the assurances it made to this court," Kennedy said. The tapes' destruction also is under investigation by the CIA and Congress. (More CIA stories.)