Pelosi Says CIA Lied in Torture Timeline

May 15, 2009

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her news conference Thursday accused the CIA of lying when the agency said she was told about the use of torture in 2002 on detainees in the war on terror. A leaked CIA timeline said she was briefed September 4, 2002 that “enhanced interrogation techniques…had been employed,” which are euphemisms for torture. Republicans have been insisting in recent weeks that Pelosi and Democrats knew waterboarding was being used but did not protest it.

Pelosi said, “The only mention of waterboarding at that briefing was that it was not being employed. We were not – I repeat, were not – told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee said, “I’ve known Nancy a long time. We lived a few houses apart for a couple of decades. I’ve never known her not to be truthful. Let me put that on record. The CIA on this issue is in a defensive mode. Who knows whether what they’re saying is right or wrong? The CIA is not an agency that is above not telling the truth.”

The Republican legislators are arguing that if Pelosi was complicit, it’s unfair to investigate former Bush officials on charges of the use of torture.

Pelosi said, “Yes I am saying that they are misleading – that the CIA was misleading the Congress. They mislead us all the time.” When a reporter asked if the agency lied, Pelosi agreed.

“They misrepresented every step of the way, and they don’t want that focus on them, so they try to turn the attention on us [Democrats],” Pelosi said.

She said she would “be very happy” if the CIA would release notes from the 2002 briefing so that everyone could see what was said for themselves.

Pelosi accused the Bush administration of “misinforming” Congress about both torture and weapons of mass destruction as a way to push war agenda with minimum interference from Congress.

Republican House leader John Boehner of Ohio said of Pelosi’s response, “hard for me to imagine that anyone in our intelligence area would ever mislead a member of Congress” (this man must be completely delusional).

Feinstein is opening a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of interrogations that she estimates will take six to eight months. Feinstein and other representatives are pushing legislation to expand CIA briefings to allow the entire Senate Intelligence Committee with professional staff to hear the briefings instead of what is estimated as the current allotment: as little as four member of Congress. She says the current limited briefing group needs to change because it obstructs the obligation of Congress to oversee the executive branch.

Feinstein said CIA briefings tend to be “very bland; very theoretical and very little said. You cannot take notes. There is no opportunity for a lot of questions.”

Current CIA head Leon Panetta said the recent CIA briefing timeline information is based on “best recollections of CIA briefers at the time and may not be accurate.”

Pelosi recently said her motto is: “The best preparation for combat is combat.”