Reyes Will Continue CIA Investigation

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) pledged Wednesday to continue an investigation into destroyed CIA interrogation tapes hours after the attorney general announced the Justice Department would initiate a criminal investigation.

"I am pleased to see that the Attorney General is taking this issue seriously," Reyes said in a statement. "At the same time, I also believe that there must be an independent congressional review of this matter. For that reason, the House Intelligence Committee launched an official committee investigation on December 10, 2007, and our plan is to move forward with that investigation."

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Wednesday announced the appointment of Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct a criminal investigation of a CIA operative's decision to destroy videotapes that captured the harsh interrogation of suspected terrorists in 2002.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) was less confident than Reyes in that appointment, announcing he would still like to see the Justice Department appoint a special counsel to look into the destruction of the tapes (see the preceding item). Other leading Democrats were similarly skeptical.