Political firestorm erupts on Capitol Hill over CIA’s destruction of tapes By WILLIAM BRANIGIN, DAN EGGEN and JOBY WARRICK The Washington Post WASHINGTON | President Bush does not recall being informed before Thursday about the existence or subsequent destruction of videotapes showing harsh CIA interrogations of terrorism suspects, the White House said Friday. However, administration sources acknowledged Friday night that Harriet Miers, White House counsel at the time, knew about the plan to destroy the tapes and urged CIA officials not to do it. The recordings, which CIA Director Michael Hayden disclosed Thursday had been made in 2002 but destroyed three years later, set off a furor Friday on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats demanded a Justice Department investigation, and Thomas Kean, chairman of the bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks, said that the CIA apparently had illegally concealed information from the panel. The Senate intelligence committee will begin its own investigation into the destroyed videotapes, said its chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat. ‘We do not know if there was intent to obstruct justice, an attempt to prevent congressional scrutiny, or whether they were simply destroyed out of concern they […]