A House Intelligence Committee official said the entire committee, not just its top two members, should have been informed.
"This is a matter that should have been briefed to the full Intelligence Committee at the time. This does not appear to have been done. There may be a very logical reason for destroying records that are no longer needed; however, this requires a more complete explanation," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Hayden's message was an attempt to get ahead of a New York Times story about the videotapes.
"What matters here is that it was done in line with the law," Hayden said. "Over the course of its life, the Agency's interrogation program has been of great value to our country. It has helped disrupt terrorist operations and save lives. It was built on a solid foundation of legal review. It has been conducted with careful supervision. If the story of these tapes is told fairly, it will underscore those facts."
In November, the CIA admitted to an Alexandria, Va., federal court that it had failed to hand over videotaped prisoner interrogations relevant to the trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Those interrogations were not part of the CIA's detention program and were not conducted or recorded by the agency, according to the Justice Department.
