The Case of the Missing Torture Documents

Did ten classified Bush-era documents go missing from a super-secure government facility?

—By Nick Baumann

Mon September 28, 2009 4:00 AM PST

Classified Bush-era documents on the administration's controversial interrogation and rendition programs are missing, according to a recent court filing submitted by the Obama Justice Department. But a Justice Department spokeswoman says the documents may not actually be gone; they may never have existed—even though Bush administration records say that they do. Welcome to the Case of the Disappearing Torture Documents. This is more than just a bureaucratic whodunit. There's a possibility that government officials purposely destroyed records pertaining to detainee abuse.