WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The CIA destroyed 92 videotapes of terror-suspect interrogations , according to a court document filed by the government on Monday . The disclosure marks the first time the specific number of tapes has been made public . A former CIA officer says the destroyed tapes showed harsh interrogations , including the use of waterboarding . The tapes were made in 2002 and showed the interrogations of two suspected al Qaeda leaders , Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri . According to former CIA officer John Kiriakou , some of the videos showed harsh interrogations , including the use of waterboarding , which is said to simulate drowning and is considered by most people to be a form of torture . Government officials have said the tapes were destroyed in November 2005 at the orders of Jose Rodriguez , then head of the CIA 's National Clandestine Service , with the approval of NCS lawyers . The tape destruction is under investigation by John Durham , a federal prosecutor . The disclosure of the number of tapes involved came as part of a federal court proceeding in New York involving an American Civil Liberties Union motion to hold the CIA in contempt of court for destroying the tapes . Durham had requested and received a stay on the ACLU motion while his investigation was under way . Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin wrote in a letter to Judge Alvin Hellerstein that Durham had not requested a continuation of the stay after it expired February 28 . `` The CIA can now identify ... 92 videotapes were destroyed , '' wrote Dassin . He also told the court the CIA is collecting information describing each of the destroyed tapes , as well as written accounts of the tapes and the identities of the people who viewed or possessed the recordings . `` The CIA intends to produce all of the information requested to the court and to produce as much information as possible on the public record to the plaintiffs , Dassin wrote . But the ACLU , in a written statement , said the government 's letter proves the CIA is in contempt . `` The large number of videotapes confirms the agency engaged in a systemic attempt to hide evidence of its illegal interrogations and to evade the court 's order . '' CIA spokesman George Little said the agency has cooperated with the Justice Department investigation . `` If anyone thinks it 's agency policy to impede the enforcement of American law , they simply do n't know the facts , '' he said in response to the ACLU . Then-CIA Director Mike Hayden wrote in a December 2007 memo to staff that the tapes were made as `` an internal check '' on the CIA 's use of harsh interrogation techniques and the decision to destroy them was made `` only after it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and relevant to any internal , legislative or judicial inquires . '' Hayden said there were detailed written notes on the interrogations . The prosecutor 's spokesman would not comment on the status of Durham 's criminal investigation into the tape destruction . `` That investigation is ongoing so we are not commenting on any specific aspects of it , '' spokesman Tom Carson said .
Disclosure is first when the specific number of tapes has been made public . Video made in 2002 showed interrogations of two suspected Al Qaeda leaders . Tape destruction is under investigation by federal authorities . ACLU had filed motion to hold CIA in contempt of court for destroying tapes .