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Monday, April 27, 2009

Pelosi's Own Denials Put Her On Defensive

When the Obama administration released the memos on the harsh interrogation tactics used by the Bush administration on terrorists to obtain information on pending attacks against the U.S., Obama didn't realize the can of worms he was opening, not only for his administration, but for members of his own party that were part of the classified briefings on those tactics, who they were being used against and what they were accomplishing.

Nancy Pelosi was present for those briefings and when the memos were released, she made some public statements that opened the door to more questions about her and other congressional members that say one thing now, but didn't speak up at the time of those briefings.

Via Politico:

Many Republicans obliged, led by former CIA chief Porter Goss, who is accusing Democrats like Pelosi of “amnesia” for demanding investigations in 2009 after failing to raise objections seven years ago when she first learned of the legal basis for the program.

“As soon as the president made the decision to release [the memos], I was telling people that the Republicans were going to come after us, saying she knew about it and did nothing,” said an adviser to Pelosi (D-Calif.), speaking on condition of anonymity. “And I’m sure we’re going to get hammered again when they release all those new torture photos,” the person said.

But Pelosi’s allies were less prepared to confront the fallout from her convoluted answers during three sessions with reporters last week — answers that raised new questions and handed Republicans a fresh line of attack on a speaker at the height of her power.

“I’m puzzled, I don’t understand what she’s trying to say,” said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and currently the committee’s ranking minority member.

“I don’t have any sympathy for her — she’s the speaker of the House; there should be some accountability. She shouldn’t be given a pass,” added Hoekstra.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) promised to keep up the heat, telling reporters last week, “She and other leaders were fully briefed on all of these interrogation techniques. There’s nothing here that should surprise her.”


Read the full 2 page report.

All of the hype is for nothing, perhaps understanding, finally, the can of worms he has opened, Obama appears to be set to reject the idea of an independent commission to investigate.... perhaps he is finally :getting" that his own people, his own party leaders, might just get their asses handed to them during any investigation.

Pelosi's own denials about what she knew and when, after it was already publicized that she and others were made aware of everything at the time, has put her in the spotlight.

She dug this hole for herself and watching them all try to dig their way out, is the height of entertainment.

When trying to get out of a hole this deep, one piece of advice to Madam Speaker... put the shovel down and stop digging.

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