Pelosi: I knew about waterboarding in early 2003
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., acknowledged for the first time Thursday that she knew by early 2003 that the CIA had subjected terrorism detainees to waterboarding but saw little recourse to challenge the practice except by achieving Democratic control of Congress and the White House.
By CARL HULSE
The New York Times
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
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Seattle Times news services
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., acknowledged for the first time Thursday that she knew by early 2003 that the CIA had subjected terrorism detainees to waterboarding but saw little recourse to challenge the practice except by achieving Democratic control of Congress and the White House.
Pelosi offered her account as she was pressed for a full accounting of when she became aware the Bush administration had sanctioned harsh interrogation techniques.
The issue emerges as Pelosi fends off accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans for criticizing the interrogation methods when she had known about them, and from liberal critics who say she should have raised the alarm earlier if she knew what was transpiring.
In her roles as Democratic leader after 2004 and then speaker after Democrats won control of the House in 2006, Pelosi was an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's treatment of detainees.
Disclosed in 2007
It was not until late 2007 that it was disclosed that, as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi had been briefed on the methods.
Pelosi was present at a CIA briefing in September 2002 that a recently released CIA account says included discussion of techniques that "had been used" against a terrorism suspect.
That briefing was the only one that Pelosi attended, and Thursday she repeated her assertion that the only mention of waterboarding was that while it was deemed to be legal, the technique was not being used.
"We later find out that it had been taking place before they even briefed us about the legal opinions and told us that they were not being used," she said.
She went on to acknowledge for the first time that she had been told five months later, in February 2003, that top lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee had been briefed on using tough interrogation methods on terrorism suspects, including waterboarding.
Pelosi said the account had been provided by a staff member who attended the briefing and said the fact she did not speak out at the time due to secrecy rules did not make her complicit in any abuse of detainees.
"The CIA was misleading the Congress" as part of a broader Bush administration pattern of deception about its activities, Pelosi said.
GOP critical
Her comments amount to an accusation that the CIA violated its legal obligation to keep congressional leaders accurately informed.
Republicans ratcheted up their criticism of Pelosi.
"I think the problem is that the speaker has had way too many stories on this issue," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Pelosi said she had supported a letter opposing the tactics sent in 2003 by Rep. Jane Harman of California.
But she said that she realized a letter would not change policy and instead set about to win Democratic control of Congress.
"It was clear we had to change the leadership in Congress and in the White House," she said. "That was my job: the Congress part."
To resolve the dispute about the September 2002 meeting, the speaker has urged the CIA to disclose the contents of that session.
But the prospects for that seem doubtful since the agency has now rebuffed the request of former Vice President Dick Cheney for memorandums he said would demonstrate the effectiveness of harsh interrogation methods.
Former CIA director Porter Goss, who as a Republican congressman from Florida attended the September briefing with Pelosi, said in an article published in The Washington Post that lawmakers were suffering from "amnesia" if they "claim to have not understood that the techniques on which they were briefed were to actually be employed; or that specific techniques such as 'waterboarding' were never mentioned."
Material from the Los Angeles Times is included in this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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Comments (4)
This woman is 3rd in line to be President and this is the best we can do as a nation? God help us. Posted on May 15, 2009 at 2:58 AM by MyTwoCentsWorth. Jump to comment Its not a plane...its a ride. Its not torture...its Posted on May 15, 2009 at 3:55 AM by nekobasu. Jump to comment Yeah, whatever you say Pelosi. Do something about the hair. You look like you've been waterboarded. Posted on May 15, 2009 at 4:30 AM by Island_Boy. Jump to comment
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