This is CLASSIC...going exactly as predicted.
Step #1: Deny the closed door briefings included any reference to or mention of waterboarding.
Step #2 (today): Since it appears she may have been briefed, state "I was misinformed/lied to by the CIA" and demand the briefs be made public. (probably won't happen since this is a "national security" matter).
Step #3 (coming soon): If the CIA calls her bluff and does happen to have a brief/record showing Pelosi, etc., were informed of the intention to use enhanced interrogation techniques, and decides to publish it-- pull the good ol' Grandpa Reagan canard; "I don't remember the details of that briefing, that day".
Step X (which should have happened): Ms. Pelosi would be in a much better light today had she done this at one or more of the briefings: "I don't care for the sound of this, I don't trust the CIA to do what's right, this sounds like torture, I am going on the record (confidentially) I don't approve of what the CIA is up to".
BREAKING:
I was out all day yesterday and missed this tidbit from Friday.. this of course again makes Pelosi look stupid and desperate. anyone with any sense knows you don't publicly call the CIA "Liars"-- even if you've got the smoking gun evidence (which apparently Pelosi does not) you let someone else put out the evidence which vindicates you.
and this makes repug critics appear correct: i.e. "Pelosi keeps changing her story".
Rebuffed by the Democratic head of the CIA and left hanging by a Democratic White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backpedaled Friday on her claims that the CIA lied to her about water-boarding.
Pelosi issued a statement late Friday shifting her criticism to the Bush administration – hours after CIA Director Leon Panetta defended his agency against Pelosi’s charges.
"My criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe," Pelosi said in a statement late Friday.
But she didn’t back off her central claim, that she wasn’t informed about the use of water-boarding against a key terror suspect in September 2002.
http://www.politico.com/...
George Little, a spokesman for the CIA, said that the agency's assertion that Pelosi was briefed accurately reflect its records, which are based on the recollections of agents.
"The language in the chart -- 'a description of the particular EITs that had been employed' -- is true to the language in the Agency's records," he said. EIT stands for "enhanced interrogation techniques," a euphemism for torture.
The chart Little is referring to lists Pelosi as a member of Congress briefed on interrogation methods. Pelosi disputes the accuracy of that chart.
CIA Director Leon Panetta, in a letter to Congress, said the he couldn't be certain the chart was accurate. This information, however, is drawn from the past files of the CIA and represents MFRs [Memorandum For the Records] completed at the time and notes that summarized the best recollections of those individuals. In the end, you and the Committee will have to determine whether this information is an accurate summary of what actually happened. We can make the MFRs available at CIA for staff review," he wrote.
SHE "disputes the accuracy of the charts"?!!!
Oh, c'mon!!!! it's Grandpa Reagan time!!
Am I WRONG to believe congresspeople should err on the side of caution? on the side of human rights and ethics? or is that all just out in the dumpster now?
Pelosi attempting the "we was misinformed" by the CIA excuse is an indication of her not being very bright, or again, not doing her job which is in fact to provide checks/oversight against all federal gov't departments. either way, it's bad news for we the people.
The notion that someone who has been in office as long as Pelosi is gullible regarding CIA ploys/tricks, like some sort of backwoods hick, is not believable, not credible. I suppose Pelosi has forgotten what they have been up to for years in places like Iran and central/south America?
gimme a break, please!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://www.truthout.org/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...