Mukasey rejects congressional request on CIA probe

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday rejected a congressional request for information about a Justice Department probe into the CIA's destruction of videotapes of harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists.

The Democratic-led Congress has begun its own investigations of last week's disclosure that the CIA destroyed some tapes in 2005, with critics charging a possible cover-up of illegal torture.

In refusing to release information that federal investigators have dug up so far, Mukasey wrote: "The department has a long-standing policy of declining to provide non-public information about pending matters."

"This policy is based in part on our interest in avoiding any perception that our law enforcement decisions are subject to political influence," Mukasey added in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the panel's ranking Republican.

The senators asked Mukasey in a letter this week what the Justice Department had known about the CIA videotapes and whether attorneys for the department had viewed the videotapes, offered advice about their destruction or discussed them with the White House.

Leahy expressed disappointment in Mukasey's refusal to provide information and promised that his committee would pursue the matter.

"This committee needs to fully understand whether the government used cruel interrogation techniques and torture, contrary to our basic values," Leahy said in a statement.

"I will ask Attorney General Mukasey -- in public and on the record -- more about the department's knowledge of and role in the existence and destruction of these videotapes at the committee's next oversight hearing, which I intend to call early next year," Leahy said.

Leahy added that his panel will examine the matter at a confirmation hearing next Wednesday for Deputy Attorney General nominee Mark Filip.

Mukasey was recently confirmed by the Senate to replace Alberto Gonzales, who resigned under pressure from critics who accused him of politicizing the department.

"At my confirmation hearing, I testified that I would act independently, resist political pressure and ensure that politics plays no role in cases brought by the Department of Justice," Mukasey wrote.

He also rejected Leahy and Specter's suggestion that he name an independent prosecutor to investigate.

"I am aware of no facts at present to suggest that department attorneys cannot conduct this inquiry in an impartial manner," Mukasey wrote.

"If I become aware of information that leads me to a different conclusion, I will act on it," the attorney general added.

(Editing by David Alexander)