Posted on 07/09/2009 9:16:12 AM PDT by nickcarraway
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought today to avoid diving back into the controversy over what she knew about harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees and when she knew it, despited being armed with more ammunition on her side.
In May, she acknowledged for the first time that she knew by early 2003 that the Central Intelligence Agency had subjected terror detainees to waterboarding, but saw little recourse to challenge the practice except by achieving Democratic control of Congress and the White House.
In defending herself, she also accused CIA officials of misleading Congress about the extent of the use of waterboarding, which she, President Obama, and others say is torture and have harshly criticized. CIA Director Leon Panetta, a former congressional colleague, denied the accusation, and some Republicans called for Pelosi to resign as speaker.
But in a letter disclosed Wednesday, seven Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee asserted that Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.
Pelosi told reporters today that Panetta has not told her that, and said she only knew of the letter from media reports.
Asked if the letter ends the debate over the "propriety" of her accusations about the CIA, she replied, "I didn't know there was any question about propriety. I'm very proud of my work in human rights over the years. And people know where I am on the issues on which we've agreed."
It's not clear what Panetta privately told the committee on June 24, but committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat, said the CIA clearly lied in one case.
Republicans say the letter is part of a campaign to protect Pelosi.
The top Republican on the committee, Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, called the letter "one of the most bizarre
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Well, they lied to Bush about the WMD’s!
Oh, this is cover for Pelosi, I forgot.
Be assured that the Liberal media is reporting it this way....
Okay, the GOP should now demand the names of these CIA officers who spcifically mislead Congress, demand the areas about which Congress was mislead, and demand that DoJ immediately begin prosecution of said officers for lying to Congressional overseers. If this, as Panetta declares, is true then a major felony has been committed by these officers for which there is significant consequence under Title 18 USC. Failure to bring these crimes to the public is aiding and abetting after the fact. The House GOP should be introducing this as we speak.
The democrats are going back to an old letter Paneta wrote quite some time ago and claiming he said something that he denies.
How long has it been "his" agency? Six months? But how long has he been a Dem? I rest my case.
Exactly. The democrats are claiming to have evidence of a crime and are trying to blackmail the GOP into playing ball.
If they have evidence they need to release it or be just as guilty as anyone.
A gift from the Obama administration in exchange for passing cap and tax.
Isn’t former CIA director Tennent, a Clinton appointee, a dem? He told the CIA to lie only to dems in Congress, but not to Reps?
Good. I can only imagine how bad morale must be at CIA with this bunch in charge.
Ok, lets have hearings.
I demand that the issue between a lying CIA and the self-serving speaker of the House have a hearing.
Heads must roll.
Someone took Leon to the woodshed and ordered him to find “examples” of deception, BUT, only during the Bush administration!!!
Panetta is denying these charges. Panetta is saying that he did not say that the CIA lied!
If Pelsoi acknowledged she heard about it then it wasn't concealed and it does nothing for her case.
Sounds like a lot of political bs to save Pelosi. Is Panetta denying? Didn’t he write the letter of confession?
Dems are scrambling to use anything to divert attention to their own failings, but lies only go so far, then you need a bigger lie to cover the last and so on and so on. Look at the ratings....-8! I can’t wait until we see them turning on each other to salvage what’s left of their career as the O-boat begins to sink!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.