Pelosi Says She Was Never Briefed ‘About The Secret Memos’ Authorizing CIA Torture
Pelosi Says She Was Never Briefed ‘About The Secret Memos’ Authorizing CIA Torture
Earlier this week, after the New York Times revealed that the Bush administration gave the CIA secret approval in 2005 to use harsh interrogation techniques, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino asserted that members of Congress had been “fully briefed” on the secret opinions.
On Fox News Sunday today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who as minority leader in 2005 would have been informed of the most highly classified information, said that she had not been briefed “about the secret memos” in 2005:
CHRIS WALLACE: You were never briefed about these secret memos in 2005?
NANCY PELOSI: No, not about the secret memos.
Watch it:
Pelosi is not the first member of Congress to say that they were never briefed about the secret memos. On Friday, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the administration “can’t say that Congress has been fully briefed” because they have withheld “key documents“:
They can’t say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program.
The reality is, the Administration refused to disclose the program to the full Committee for five years, and they have refused to turn over key legal documents since day one.
As ThinkProgress has noted, the White House has little credibility when it says it has “fully briefed” Congress on its counterterrorism activities. Though officials have repeatedly claimed that they briefed key lawmakers on the NSA domestic wiretapping program and other spying programs, those claims have never held up in the past.
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This comes as no big surprise. It is certainly not the first time that the Bushies have pronounced something publically that has been diametrically opposed to what the facts really are.
It is now long past the time for the Congress to take definitive action against this Administration for their lies and deceit to not only Congress, but more importantly, to the American people.
All of these bozos take the oath to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies — foreign and domestic. How much clearer does it need to be for them to understand what We, the People, have understood for quite some time now — that this administration doesn’t give a damn about the US Constitution. By refusing to take action, the Congress is also not honoring their oath of constitutional duty.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:50 amFor God’s sake. Use the power the people invested in Congress and DO something about Bush’s intransigence.
It is your damn job.
-GSD
October 7th, 2007 at 10:53 amBookmark these URL’s. Then every morning when you sit down to your computer, write Reid and Pelosi an e-mail telling them it is time for them to either step up to the plate or resign. That’s what I do. It gets my morning off to a good start.
Nancy Pelosi:
http://speaker.gov/contact/
Harry Reid:
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/
For some reason Reid has not bothered to set up a Senate Majority Leader contact like Nancy has. I guess he wants to make it hard for us to tell him what we think. His URL requires you to enter information proving you are a resident of Nevada. But, that’s easy to get around. Just make up a street address and use Las Vegas as the city and 89101 as the zip.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:07 amSO, WHO IS LYING???
October 7th, 2007 at 11:14 amwill we ever see the rule of law again? How long must this criminal, and quite insane, miss-administration be allowed to continue?
October 7th, 2007 at 11:14 amOur government is a disgusting mess and all the pols just roll around in the shit pretending it smells good.
Evil leads our country. Greed is our God. I fear we are doomed without change happening soon.
Pelosi being on FOX overshadows this revelation.
If Pelosi is willing to go legitimize FOX then she’s probably lying about the secret memos.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:17 amSO, WHAT WERE THE DATES AND TIMES OF THESE BRIEFINGS?????
October 7th, 2007 at 11:17 amNo lawyer will try a case he doesn’t think he can win. We won’t see Impeachment proceedings until dems know they can get bipartisan support for the measure. Honestly, do you think the majority of Bush watercarriers in congress are going to vote to impeach? It’s up to the states.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:18 amI can’t really recall any claim by this White House that has held in the past. I am going to be generous, and say that there might be one or two.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:19 amAnd as far as credibility is concerned, the Bush administration has none left since they decided to invade Iraq using a rationale that was proved wrong almost as quickly as the Bush minions could put it together.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:27 amSO, WHAT WERE THE DATES AND TIMES OF THESE BRIEFINGS?????
Comment by celtic cynic
Enough with the caps and bold. We can hear your hysterical hyperbole just fine without them. Why don’t you ask the Bushies what the date and times were and who exactly they say they briefed? I assume the purpose for your hysteria is to try and prove that Bush did inform congress. You are obviously a kool-aid drinker who will believe anything the Liar and Chief has to say.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:28 amHow many excuses can Dems swallow from their “leaders” – “Gosh, I didn’t know what was going on, otherwise I would have actually done what you elected me to do.”
It is amazing to watch you libs keep going back to the same well over and over and drinking it in. Pelosi and her ilk are merely doing symbolic gestures, putting the onus on you to hand them a supermajority AND a president. Gee, would you like a side of fries with that?
Even when you had a Dem president and Congress, you didn’t get shit, yet you are going to keep placing your trust in them. Oh well, I guess, regardless of who is elected, we can look forward to expansions in Welfare Reform, NAFTA and GATT ….
October 7th, 2007 at 11:34 amI heard the first explanation as to why the Democrats are not impeaching the other day that made sense. When Congress impeached Nixon and Clinton, it was based on the work of an appointed Independent Council. They did the legwork to get the evidence to file charges. Since Bush refuses to allow the Justice Department to appoint an Independent Council, there is no one to do the investigation. Therefore Congress would have to conduct the investigation and that would take way too long for Impeachment to be viable.
Personally, I am all for closing down our government and spending the remaining days of the Bush administration investigating every crime they have committed, but that would take impeachment so Bush couldn’t use Executive Privilege and tell his minions to ignore subpoenas. There really is little use in Congress continuing to try to pass legislation since the Republics will either filibuster it or if they are successful in passing legislation, Bush will veto it. So, why should the Democrats keep trying.
What frustrates me is that the Democrats have one tool they can use to get to the truth and that is Inherent Contempt. I don’t know why they are not using it. They can throw Harriet Mier and Josh Bolton in the jail in the basement and let them stay there until they decide to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:35 amWhat is she afraid of exposing in the needed impeachment hearings?
October 7th, 2007 at 11:35 amTo Toonguy,
Bush’s impeachment numbers are so high. Nancy is a fool.
Doing the right thing, regardless of the outcome was what America was all about. If people did the right thing only if they were guaranteed success, we would still be under British Rule.
You don’t do the right thing to win; you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do!!!
Nancy and her DLC enablers are just as bad as the Bush Administration. Talking impeachment off the table is not her choice. She has now become complicate in owning the war and the sad state our country is in. Why? Do they really think not doing anything will ensure a Dem win in 08? Does she live in the same bubble as George?
The two top issues from the polls last November were Corruption and Iraq. Nothing has changed on that score and Nancy and her pals have done nothing. They hold hearings, and write stern letters with no accountability, no outcome, no follow-up.
The process of Impeachment is just that, a process. Once more of the lies and corruption comes out in the hearings (if we had them) the enablers on both sides of the aisle would have to vote for impeachment. The Country and the World would cheer.
Clinton’s impeachment lasted all of a month. Pick any BushCo crime and run with it and we would be there.
The fact that Nancy Pelosi is not upholding our rule of law and ignoring her oath of office to defend the Constitution is disgusting and she should be impeached herself.
Either she is out of touch, being blackmailed, getting some war profits on the back end, or is too stupid to be in any leadership. Maybe all of the above. She has to resign.
I am so disgusted.
It’s never too late to do the right thing.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:38 amI hope you’re right. One way or another, he must pay for the crime of deceiving America.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:38 amWe won’t see Impeachment proceedings until dems know they can get bipartisan support.
Exactly: for impeachment to succeed it requires the backing 17 GOP Senators. If people really want to evict Bush, they should stop dumping on Pelosi and Ried and start pounding on vulnerable Repubican Senators. Remember, it wasn’t the Dems who forced Nixon to resign: it was Republicans on the Hill, trying to save their own lame asses. The best way to force Bush out is to keep turning up the heat under the GOP until they are forced to make Bush and Cheney walk the plank.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:40 amPelosi being on FOX overshadows this revelation.
If Pelosi is willing to go legitimize FOX then she’s probably lying about the secret memos.
Comment by Guido OBGYN Lover — October 7, 2007 @ 11:17 am
The Snarling, Smirking type of Fascism is being replaced by a touchy-feely form of fascism/corporatism. Pelosi, Hillary, Reid, Kennedy, and other so-called Liberals are beholden to the same AIPAC/Zionist lobby that the crazed Right Wing Neo-Cons boot lick. This is Bizarro World. That is the only logical way to look at this. Pro-War Liberals are one one aspect of that, as are ieeational as the 90% of the country supporting Bush right after 9/11.
However, there are three reasons why the Democrats won’t impeach…one is there is enough votes, two is from above the AIPAC-WHORE reason, and three that Democrats OK’d the attacking of Iraq/Afghanistan, and are now OKing the attack on Iran.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:40 amImpeachment of Cheney and Bush may fail but the effort is necessary. Unless Congress acts our Constitution is meaningless and our Country doomed.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:42 amPerhaps certain members of congress were briefed.
Just no democrats.
When this administration uses words such as “key” when referring to members of congress they mean key to advancing the agenda and not the standing the lawmaker has as a legislator.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:44 amImpeachment of Cheney and Bush may fail but the effort is necessary. Unless Congress acts our Constitution is meaningless and our Country doomed.
Comment by rehbock — October 7, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I agree, but Pelosi et al do not want to be dragged into why they supported Bush’s insanity including the wars and the Patriot Act. We are being fooled into thinking that the Democrats will save us, while the powers that be are slipping us the new form of Friendly Fascism. As kooky as Ron Paul is, he is one of the only remaining Real Americans left, along with Byrd, Kucinich, Leahy, Feingoldand a handful of others. The more I think of it, I am part of the “None of The Above Party”.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:59 amthis “no body told me” defense is really pathetic. Knowing full well the insidious, anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-rule of law, totalitarian nature of the bush regime (which has been known and understood for a long time), why wouldn’t Congress be constantly probing the regime to find out and know what they’re up to. Its Pelosi’s fricken job to know – to defend the Constitution and protect the American people from exactly this kind of internal invasion. She and the rest of the democratic leadership are pathetic Vichy Dems, and along with the entire set of unpatriotic, anti-American republicans are enabling the totalitarian takeover of the US.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:00 pm.
I guess there’s nothing Pelosi can do. But that’s her decision. After she gets batted around enough, maybe she’ll press charges. In the meantime, maybe she should enroll in a 12-step program for co-dependents and work on her self-esteem issues.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:00 pmso, nancy – what do you plan to DO about this?
October 7th, 2007 at 12:01 pmeh?
Pelosi…Pelosi…wasn’t she some bought-off, has-been politico who claimed she was going to end the war and subsequently led the charge to steer the congress’s approval rating into the toilet by giving bush everything he wanted?
Gee, Nancy…why the hell would I believe you now?
October 7th, 2007 at 12:02 pmHowever, there are three reasons why the Democrats won’t impeach…one is there is [not] enough votes, two is from above the AIPAC-WHORE reason, and three that Democrats OK’d the attacking of Iraq/Afghanistan, and are now OKing the attack on Iran.
impeachment has to do with ILLEGAL activity. None of what you state is illegal – its all political. Impeachment and conviction would rely on:
** illegal warrantless wiretapping in violation of FISA
October 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm** illegal torture of detainees in violation of Geneva Conventions which ARE US LAW by ratification of the treaty.
** illegal detention without due process
** Lying the nation into war (Congress authorized the use of force based on false and manipulated information furnished by the bush information.)
** Illegal invasion in violation the US being a signatory to the UN charter which prohibits invasion of member states except in narrowly defined instances.
** Obstruction of justice in numerous instances
** outing a CIA undercover operative
.
You know it and they know it, but how do you go about proving it? Where’s the evidence? You can’t try a successful case based on “everybody knows.” Until we can get something they and their talking heads can’t weasel their way out of, impeachment proceedings will do nothing more than make the Repubs look like poor, put-upon martyrs.
I want the entire Bush cabal chained in shackles and led away to lifetime incarceration, but you’ve got to admit that it isn’t going to be easy. Care must be taken lest the Repubs (who have considerable skill at manipulating the system) turn it to their advantage.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:22 pmHere is an interest conundrum. Let’s say that Pelosi and Rockefeller were both briefed about these secret memos. What difference would that make? They are bound by Congressional rules not to say anything to anyone about what they learned. And it’s not like they had the ability to say “hey wait a minute, we’re not going along with that”. In order for them to do something to stop Bush, they would have had to make public what Bush was doing. And that would have resulted in their losing their jobs.
The way the Right is framing this is that the Democrats knew about the memo and therefore they approved of what Bush was doing. Which is, of course, a lie. Knowing about something is NOT approving of it.
Besides, I’m willing to bet that they were never informed. That is Bush’s modus operandi – everything is secret because if it is secret it can’t come back and bite him in the ass.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:27 pmBush’s impeachment numbers are so high. Nancy is a fool.
Doing the right thing, regardless of the outcome was what America was all about. If people did the right thing only if they were guaranteed success, we would still be under British Rule.
In order for the Democrats to start Impeachment proceedings they would have to virtually shut down the government to conduct an investigation to get enough evidence to get Articles of Impeachment. Nixon and Bush were both impeached based on the work of Independent Counsels. Since Bush refuses to allow the Justice Department to appoint an Independent Council, and he uses Executive Privilege to get around providing evidence, how in the hell is Congress supposed to get the evidence they need to bring Articles of Impeachment?
I believe that the Democrats should just close down our government and start their own investigation, using Inherent Contempt to force Bush’s minions to testify. But there is a real danger in their doing that. The Right will start screaming that the Democrats are shutting down our government to go on a “witch hunt”. And, we all know what happened when Newt Gingrich closed down our government while Clinton was president. It was the Republicans who incurred the wrath of the public.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:33 pmou know it and they know it, but how do you go about proving it? Where’s the evidence?
several of these items the bush regime has publicly admitted to such as the wiretapping and violating Geneva Conventions – both of which should have triggered impeachment. But that is besides the point, impeachment is the INVESTIGATION of wrong-doing to see if there is sufficient evidence. It is NOT the trial – the trial is done in the Senate.
At this point, there is more suspicion of wrong-doing by the bush regime then the rest of all of the US Presidential administrations combined. There is no case whatsoever for NOT pursuing impeachment. It is dereliction of duty and violation of their oaths for Congresspersons, republican and democrat alike NOT to be pursuing impeachmnet of bush and cheney.
It is also a failure of the American people to participate in, and support democracy (which is a participatory form of government) to NOT be insisting on impeachment.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:35 pm.
Its Pelosi’s fricken job to know – to defend the Constitution and protect the American people from exactly this kind of internal invasion. She and the rest of the democratic leadership are pathetic Vichy Dems, and along with the entire set of unpatriotic, anti-American republicans are enabling the totalitarian takeover of the US.
Comment by gak
I agree with you completely. But, unfortunately, reality and the rules of Congress get in the way. As I said in a prior post, even if the Democrats knew, there was nothing they could have done about it. Those briefings are confidential and if anyone briefed revealed to the public what they knew, they would lose their job. Personally I think it would be worth losing my job over, but it’s not me making these decisions.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:37 pmIn order for them to do something to stop Bush, they would have had to make public what Bush was doing.
No they wouldn’t have to disclose secrets – this is complete nonsense. They would have merely had to say that the bush regime WAS doing something illegal and act accordingly, i.e., start impeachment., They would not have had to disclose any secrets except under controlled, non-public conditions. supervised by the judiciary or Congressional panel. At the point in time that it was determined that the bush regime was in fact engaged in illegal activity, the details would them be discloseable (surely even imbecile wingnuts could agree that illegal activity is not protected by secret security needs of the US).
October 7th, 2007 at 12:41 pm.
They would not have had to disclose any secrets except under controlled, non-public conditions. supervised by the judiciary or Congressional panel. At the point in time that it was determined that the bush regime was in fact engaged in illegal activity, the details would them be discloseable (surely even imbecile wingnuts could agree that illegal activity is not protected by secret security needs of the US).
Comment by gak
So, exactly how would Congress accomplish this without an Independent Counsel or the cooperation of the judiciary (doubtful) or the Bush administration (certainly wouldn’t happen)?
October 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pmSO, WHO IS LYING???
Comment by celtic cynic — October 7, 2007 @ 11:14 am
Ehhh, do you even need to ASK that question? But I am assuming you were being sarcastic.
The only thing that Dubya and BushCo have said that has been true, was when they said “Mission Accomplished”. That was when they had us squarely entrenched in Iraq for decades, in support of the 51st state of Israel and the NeoCon Oil/Defense Industry Cabal.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pmSo, exactly how would Congress accomplish this without an Independent Counsel or the cooperation of the judiciary (doubtful) or the Bush administration (certainly wouldn’t happen)?
Congress is a CO-EQUAL branch of government. They are allowed to see anything goddamn thing they insist on seeing in order to execute their Constitutional responsibilities. If nothing else, it takes money to torture people. If they want to see where the money is going they have every legal right to demand a full accounting BEFORE approving funding.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:22 pm.
Well, there are the secret programs that are knowable, and then there are the secret secret programs that aren’t knowable because we can’t tell you about their secret secrets without having to then kill you.
October 7th, 2007 at 3:26 pmFor God’s sake. Use the power the people invested in Congress and DO something about Bush’s intransigence.
It is your damn job.
-GSD
Comment by GSD — October 7, 2007
Great comment.What does this ineffectual House leader does,she waits to go on FOX to voice her concern.She should have been on every program on TV & radio telling us that the Prez is a big liar.Not wait for Fox Tv to ask.
October 7th, 2007 at 3:31 pmAnd those of you who are going to say well the media is right wingnuttery to the core.Well we can thank BClinton for the Telcom act of 96 that consolidated our media & made few rich people own more TV & radio stations.
Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton, potentially 28 years of dynasty rule, has brought us the secret government, that answers only to special interests with deep pockets.
The US Presidency is like “Groundhog day”.
October 7th, 2007 at 6:16 pmNancy Pelosi
OK people, I’m damn tired of bullshit politicians going on the airwaves denying everything.
Pelosi damn well knew people were being tortured.
Lets impeach her for the George W admin whore she is!
Troubled
October 7th, 2007 at 7:23 pm.
Memo to Pelosi:
SUPPORT AMERICA
GO SHOPPING…
And buy a Table!
.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:14 pmComment by Troubled Texan — October 7, 2007 @ 7:23 pm
Using sexist language towards Speaker Pelosi doesn’t give any credence to your argument. It was the Bush’s decision to torture. How do you know that she knew that torture was taking place? Can you back up that assertion?
Comment by Probus — October 7, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
More precisely, she is a whore, a harlot, a strumpet, for the AIPAC and surveillance lobby, and not GW Bush. She is a slightly left leaning version of Lieberman, and is the new face awaiting us in 2008……..Globalism with a Feminine Touch. Look Ted Kennedy votes to eliminate vitamins and herbs, good for the pharmaceuticals, bad for smaller companies. The Democrats vote to eliminate bioidenticals because Wyeth lobbied their dangerous Premarin. We are being duped into another wash out in 2008, and time will tell whether these Democrats are just Happy Faces on the Same Old Boss or not.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:19 pmPelosi prays “all the time” for Bush to change policies
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1007/Pelosi_supports_full_troop_withdrawal_by_2013.html
October 7th, 2007 at 10:27 pmis it just me or is wallace really the rev. lovejoy from the simpsons
October 7th, 2007 at 11:15 pmHow is Pelosi in favor of the surveillance lobby? Pelosi is a liberal. She didn’t vote to authorize war in 2002.
“Globalism with a Feminine Touch.â€
What does her gender have to do with her position on the issues? Care to explain how the Speaker is a whore?
While I don’t agree with every thing the Speaker has done, I prefer her leadership to the republicans any day.
Comment by Probus — October 7, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
Of course you will accept what Pelosi and the Globalist Democrats vote for..Bend over, with grease, while Republicans use no grease.
Nancy Pelosi is an AIPAC whore. From there stems practically everything that is going awry with our society today. The war in Iraq is a war for Exxon and Israel, as will be the war in Iran. She says she does not support continual occupation, and yet supports AIPAC, who drew up the PNAC plans. Forked tongue syndrome.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8955.htm
Feminist Globalism is the new friendly approach to the same. Hillary is another one. This is the carrot approach as opposed to Bush-Cheney’s stick approach. Globalism needs a surveillance/police state to function properly.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:52 amWORLD WORKERS UNITE TO SAVE THE PLANET AND THE MIDDLE CLASS!
http://www.wsws.org
October 8th, 2007 at 5:30 pmhttp://www.sp-usa.org
http://www.greenpeace.org
Nancy PollLoser needs to be unelected!!
I’ll support Cindy Sheehan if she runs!!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 7:31 pm