CIA finds seven more photos of dead Bin Laden
The Central Intelligence Agency recently found seven additional
photographs of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's dead body that were not
turned up in earlier searches, a Justice Department lawyer said Friday.
In response to Freedom of Information Act requests for such images, the Justice Department had previously told requesters and the courts that there were 52 pictures of the corpse. All the photos were withheld both as classified national security secrets and as operational files of the CIA.
However, in a letter Friday, Justice Department attorney Marcia Berman told the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch that the initial search missed the extra seven photos. She did not explain how, why or precisely when they turned up.
"I am writing to let you know that the CIA recently located seven additional images of Osama Bin Laden's body from the May 1, 2011 operation that resulted in his death," Berman wrote in the letter, also filed with a federal appeals court and posted here. "Had they been located previously, these records would have been responsive to your FOIA request. These additional images were not located during the CIA's search for responsive records in this case."
Berman said the records were considered classified and are being withheld for the same reason as the 52 other images.
The CIA declined to comment on the matter, citing a policy of not commenting on matters in litigation.
The oversight is embarassing for a couple of reasons.
First, the matter has been through two rounds of litigation: a district court case which resulted in a ruling approving the withholding of the first batch of photos and an appeal which has been briefed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was argued there last month. So, both courts were misinformed in briefs, declarations and oral argument about the number of photos at issue.
Second, this has happened before with the CIA in another high-profile case also litigated by Judicial Watch: a suit seeking records related to the government's cooperation with the makers of the film "Zero Dark Thirty." Last July, the government (also through Berman) announced it belatedly discovered a four-to-five-inch stack of documents that it did not find in previous searches. The discovery of the "overlooked" records also came while the case was in litigation.
That said, the belated discovery of the photos is unlikely to affect the substance of the appeals court's ruling on the issue, since the Justice Department insists that the photos are similar to the records previously withheld. However, it's possible Judicial Watch might be able to pry out a bit more information about the discovery of the photos, since the government was more forthcoming with details about discovery of the film-related documents.
Judicial Watch, the Associated Press and various news organizations (including POLITICO) requested all images of Bin Laden's body soon after the U.S. raid that killed the Al Qaeda figure at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan in September 2011.
Read more about: Transparency, Justice Department, Federal Courts, Osama Bin Laden, Freedom Of Information Act, Judicial Watch
In response to Freedom of Information Act requests for such images, the Justice Department had previously told requesters and the courts that there were 52 pictures of the corpse. All the photos were withheld both as classified national security secrets and as operational files of the CIA.
However, in a letter Friday, Justice Department attorney Marcia Berman told the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch that the initial search missed the extra seven photos. She did not explain how, why or precisely when they turned up.
"I am writing to let you know that the CIA recently located seven additional images of Osama Bin Laden's body from the May 1, 2011 operation that resulted in his death," Berman wrote in the letter, also filed with a federal appeals court and posted here. "Had they been located previously, these records would have been responsive to your FOIA request. These additional images were not located during the CIA's search for responsive records in this case."
Berman said the records were considered classified and are being withheld for the same reason as the 52 other images.
The CIA declined to comment on the matter, citing a policy of not commenting on matters in litigation.
The oversight is embarassing for a couple of reasons.
First, the matter has been through two rounds of litigation: a district court case which resulted in a ruling approving the withholding of the first batch of photos and an appeal which has been briefed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was argued there last month. So, both courts were misinformed in briefs, declarations and oral argument about the number of photos at issue.
Second, this has happened before with the CIA in another high-profile case also litigated by Judicial Watch: a suit seeking records related to the government's cooperation with the makers of the film "Zero Dark Thirty." Last July, the government (also through Berman) announced it belatedly discovered a four-to-five-inch stack of documents that it did not find in previous searches. The discovery of the "overlooked" records also came while the case was in litigation.
That said, the belated discovery of the photos is unlikely to affect the substance of the appeals court's ruling on the issue, since the Justice Department insists that the photos are similar to the records previously withheld. However, it's possible Judicial Watch might be able to pry out a bit more information about the discovery of the photos, since the government was more forthcoming with details about discovery of the film-related documents.
Judicial Watch, the Associated Press and various news organizations (including POLITICO) requested all images of Bin Laden's body soon after the U.S. raid that killed the Al Qaeda figure at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan in September 2011.
Read more about: Transparency, Justice Department, Federal Courts, Osama Bin Laden, Freedom Of Information Act, Judicial Watch
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