What is Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA Deputy Director of Operations who ordered the destruction of the interrogation tapes of two al Qaeda members, doing now? According to Ken Silverstein at Harper’s, he’s in business with one of the brothers of Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Moreover, says Silverstein, Rodriguez is very close friends with Reyes, who praised him at his retirement by saying Rodriguez was “was really the genesis” of 24.
UPDATE: Ken Silverstein has retracted the most important part of this:
A Reyes staffer has told me that the story “is absolute fiction†and that Rodriguez has never had any discussions about doing business with any member of Reyes’s family. “There’s absolutely no truth to†the story, the staffer said. He said Reyes’s planned a “rigorous inquiry†into the destruction of the videotapes and that, “We are going to follow the facts wherever they may lead.â€
I have retraced my steps in reporting the story and it’s clear that what I wrote was wrong…I regret the error and apologize for it.
For what it’s worth, the part about Reyes comparing Rodriguez to Jack Bauer is right.