AIG Probe: CIA Misled Congress Over Peruvian Plane Downings

Via WashingtonPost -

The CIA repeatedly misled Congress and the Justice Department in their investigations of the 2001 shoot-down of a Peruvian plane carrying U.S. missionaries, according to findings of an internal CIA probe released today by congressional officials.

The agency's inspector general concluded that CIA officers in Peru consistently ignored rules of engagement in connection with the downing of at least 10 aircraft suspected of carrying narcotics over the South American country. Yet, CIA managers covered up the problems and knowingly gave false accounts to government officials investigating whether agency employees committed crimes.

Excerpts of the inspector general's report were released by Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee. He called today for a new criminal inquiry, as well as congressional hearings, into what he described as a "startling" attempted coverup by the spy agency.

"These are the most serious and substantial allegations of wrongdoing I've seen in my time on the committee," said Hoekstra, whose western Michigan district was home to two of the Americans killed in the 2001 incident.

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Multiple investigations at the time found that the CIA had been lax in its oversight of the program and had failed to ensure that strict rules were followed in identifying the plane before opening fire. But, according to Hoekstra, agency officials had repeatedly described the 2001 incident as an aberration, insisting that CIA officers had closely followed the rules in other cases. In 2005, the Justice Department concluded its probe after deciding against filing criminal charges against any of the U.S. officials involved.

Hoekstra, citing the findings of a seven-year inspector general's investigation, said the CIA's program was "actually operating and being implemented outside the law," as agency officers routinely ignored strict rules requiring that the suspicious planes be carefully identified and given multiple warnings. Those rules were ignored in "more than 10" previous downings investigated by the inspector general, Hoekstra said. He did not give specific examples, explaining that most of the report's contents remain classified.

The investigators found that CIA managers "knew of, and condoned" the violations and failed to properly oversee the program. Later, when asked about the problems by Justice officials and congressional overseers, CIA officials gave misleading accounts, knowingly distorting the facts, Hoekstra said.

A CIA spokesman said the agency's current director, Michael V. Hayden, learned of the then-incomplete inspector general's report in August and "recognized the seriousness" of the findings, though he had not yet reached a decision about how to respond.

Hayden is "seeking input from a cleared outside expert -- one who knows the complex issues involved in an air interdiction program -- before making any decisions," said the spokesman, Mark Mansfield.