January 4, 2008 (LPAC)--In 2003, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA.), then the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, warned the CIA that if it went ahead with the destruction of videotape recordings of interrogations of terrorist suspects, it "would reflect badly on the Agency." The warning came in a letter she wrote to then-CIA General Counsel Scott Muller which was declassified and released yesterday by Harman's office. She argued that even if the tape of alleged Al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaida did not constitute an official record that must be preserved under law, it "would be the best proof that the written record is accurate, if such record is called into question in the future." Harman noted that the agency was planning to destroy the tapes, even then, once the CIA Inspector General concluded his inquiry into interrogation procedure.

In his reply to Harman's letter, which also raised policy questions regarding interrogation methods, Muller did not respond to Harman's concern about the disposition of the tapes. The Washington Post reports, however, that other CIA officials have said that Muller did not disagree with Harman and counseled colleagues against destroying the tapes.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of the tapes.