The Central Intelligence Agency says it will cooperate with a congressional committee investigating the destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected al-Qaida terrorists.
The agency says it will begin handing over documents related to the issue to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee as early as Thursday.
The panel had rejected a request by the Justice Department to delay its inquiry into the destruction of the videos because it might interfere with a review the department was conducting with the CIA. The committee's chairman, Texas Democrat Silvestre Reyes, threatened to issue subpoenas to force the administration to cooperate.
President Bush said Thursday he would offer no opinion on the matter until all reviews and investigations are complete.
Committee Chairman Reyes said he has issued a subpoena for Jose Rodriguez, the CIA's former head of its clandestine service, to testify before his panel next month. Rodriguez ordered the videotapes destroyed in 2005.
Reyes also has issued a subpoena for acting CIA general counsel John Rizzo to testify.
The 2002 videotapes show CIA agents interrogating suspected al-Qaida operatives Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. CIA director Michael Hayden says they were destroyed to protect the identity of the interrogators. But critics allege they were destroyed to hide evidence of torture.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that at least four White House officials took part in discussions with the CIA about what to do with the tapes before they were destroyed.
