Remember back in May of this year when the tender and delicate feelings of some Republicans were bruised when Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this….
Pelosi said that she was explicitly told in her September 2002 briefing that waterboarding was not used. We've since learned that Abu Zubaydah had been waterboarded 83 times by then.
She accused the agency of "misleading the Congress of the United States."
“We were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used,” she said at the May press conference. “They [the CIA] misled us all the time.”
Ignoring, or forgetting, their own previous derogatory statements about the CIA, some Republican leaders bashed away at Pelosi for daring to speak the truth in public.
“Speaker Pelosi should apologize to the CIA for calling them liars to protect her own hide,” Bond told CNSNews.com in a written statement Tuesday. “It’s up to Speaker Pelosi to come clean and set the record straight.”
Ohio's own embarassment, John Boehner (R-OH)…..
House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "ought to either present the evidence or apologize" in the wake of her comments that CIA officials misled her about the use of controversial interrogation techniques on terrorist suspects.
The Mighty Newton, currently in open opposition to wingnut darling Sarah Palin over an upstate New York congressional race, went further in his criticism of the House Speaker's CIA comments….
"She really disqualified herself to be the speaker," Gingrich said on "Good Morning America" today. "She has a unique responsibility for national security. … She made this allegation that smears everyone who's trying to defend her."
Leaving her in her place would be "very dangerous for the country," Gingrich added.
I know that Gingrich has occasions when he loses total control of his freak. That May outburst of freak over Pelosi's words about a lying CIA, I think, should be placed in Gingrich's top five "losing my freak" moments….you know, right up there with closing down the federal government in 1995.
Weren't those great wingnutty times back in May? Back in May it was steroid-enhanced faux-shock and sanctimony over Nancy Pelosi stating the obvious about the CIA.
There are now preliminary findings in a congressional investigation into the CIA's practice of giving misleading intelligence briefings to congressional members.
Intelligence subcommittee Chairwomen Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) are leading an ongoing investigation into what they described as a practice of incomplete and often misleading intelligence briefings, which arose in the wake of CIA Director Leon Panetta’s June 24 admission that intelligence officials failed to notify Congress about a top-secret program to assassinate al Qaeda leaders.
..[..]..
In June, CIA Director Leon Panetta alerted the House Intelligence Committee about a top-secret program to assassinate top al Qaeda operatives that previously had not been disclosed to Congress. Later reports indicated that former Vice President Dick Cheney had ordered the CIA not to notify Congress of the program.
Panetta’s revelation appeared to bolster Pelosi’s statement from May, and Schakowsky and Eshoo identified “Director Panetta’s June 24 notification” as one of the…. instances linked to a complete communication breakdown between the intelligence community and Congress.
What are the other "instances" where the CIA misled Congress?
…the September 2002 briefing on enhanced interrogation techniques that became the basis for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) claim that the CIA lied to her.
A 2008 CIA Inspector General’s report determined that the agency withheld information from Congress relating to the shooting down of a plane carrying missionaries over Peru in 2001.
…the CIA may have failed to properly notify Congress about the 2005 destruction of videotapes recording the interrogation of al Qaeda operatives by intelligence officials…
So, what do we have here? Nancy Pelosi said that the CIA misleads Congress. Above are four prime examples from preliminary investigation findings that show the CIA….umm….misleading Congress. Pelosi spoke the truth back in May.
What of the over the top and obviously phony reaction of Republicans back in May to the true words of Pelosi? Those silly GOP'ers were just trying to protect The Dick from having his Willy-Wonka Torture Factory fully exposed. Those GOP torture defenders, faced with the existential threat that their former leaders, George and The Dick, could be charged with war crimes, immediately tried to change the subject, blur the story lines, "create reality", by manufacturing a faux-outrage narrative directing the Village attention away from Cheney and Bush, focusing on House Speaker Pelosi instead.
The Villagers, predictably, followed the lead of the "reality creators", the conventional wisdom, GOP narrative-builders,….helping GOP freaks smear a truth-telling Speaker Pelosi. GOP'ers raise freaky hell over some off-the-wall topic….and Knee Pad wearing Villagers instantly drop to their knees to replicate the freakdom, vicariously taking on the faux-outrage visage of the GOP freaks themselves.
And then we learn, also predictably, it was all a staged hoax.
Just as it's obvious that FOX "news" is not a news outlet, so too, the CIA routinely misleads Congress.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
A corrupt North Shore limo lib is backing up still unsubstantiated accusations during a softball interview on democratic party's propaganda channel? What a shocker!
Rev.- I find it interesting the similiar broad topic of your and du kings blogs today- truth. The right is aghast at an administration that is fed up with these blowhards who claim the prez. hates white people (beck), who uncover Obamas manifesto thesis, find out its false and say "well, its how he thinks anyway, so it might as well be true"(limpballs), and who claim that GE is supplying IED components to our enemies(O'Really). These same people defend the CIA and the previous administration for, at best, twisting the facts to drum up support for Iraq and to justify torture. Thats what Jack Baur would do. Their logic is hypocritical, twisted and a bit on the delusional side. They called those who questioned the decision to send troops to Iraq unpatriotic. Now they stage rallies and try to shutdown town meetings because they are really, really mad at this president for interferring in their lives. How dare he try to reign in our insurance companies, when all they do is help the sick. whatever
BTW Larry- say hi to Culy and Moe for me. Thanks
New Frank…..why would you insult the Three Stooges like that?
rev,
I realize this topic is very important to you and you are to be congratulated for your dedication to the principle that America is a nation of laws and they must be enforced period. During the presidential campaign I told my wife every time Obama indicated his preference was to move forward and not deal with the past that it was only rhetoric. His administration would pursue the investigations and possible prosecutions for their politcal gain and only stop at that point it began to hurt them politically. The investiagation has remained low key and will continue that way untill the administration needs to aggressively go after the "culprits" for politcal reasons. They dont give a damn about the constituion or any of their professed principles. It is about destroying the opposition in order to gain POWER. Would the Reps. do the same thing? If it resulted in a net gain of power they would do the same thing. The welfare of the people and upholding the laws and principles of our country are merely the concepts they pretend to defend in order to act in their self interest.
Turn the situation around, average. If a Democratic administration had done the things Bush did, and Republicans controlled Congress….a Democratic president would have been in federal prison by now. After the Lewinsky thing, do you have any doubts about that?
OK. Then how is it,….seeing that Obama has not vigorously investigated squat and he's 10 months in…..that Obama and the Democrats are trying to "destroy the opposition?"
Rev,
Those GOP'ers told Pelosi to either produce evidence the CIA lied or retract her comments. There's nothing wrong with that. If a Republican said the White House lies to us all the time, wouldn't you ask for the proof ? That's just common sense. Pelosi never did produce the evidence, and also came up with several different "versions" of what the CIA told her about enhanced interrogation techniques. Her "version" changed each time her previous "version" was contradicted by others and by evidence. Pelosi is no paragon of truth in this matter.
Further, that CIA program to assassinate Al Qaeda leaders was never active, never used. I'm certain the CIA doesn't inform Congress about what it's NOT doing.
But I do agree with you that the destruction of those tapes is fishy.
Republicans DO say that the White House lies all the time. It's what they do. So, no, I don't need proof from Republicans when they say the White House lies.
If the assassination program was never active, why did Panetta shut it down?
Rev,
If the CIA assassination program was active, who did they assassinate or try to assassinate ???
Panetta removed it because it isn't used or useful. We use drones to kill Al Qaedas now, remember ?
Panetta was not told about it. He found out about it. He revealed that it was an active program which he, then, terminated.