Speaker Nancy Pelosi has clearly been caught in her lies about the enhanced interrogation memos, but now Jay Rockefeller.
On February 4, 2003, Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were given a briefing in which “EITs [were] ‘described in considerable detail,’ including ‘how the water board was used.’ The process by which the techniques were approved by DoJ was also raised.” The document also adds that Mr. Rockefeller, the Committee’s ranking Democrat, was later given an “individual briefing.”
Nor was that the only time Mr. Rockefeller, who chaired the Committee from 2007 to 2009, heard from the CIA. The West Virginian was briefed at least 12 times more about interrogation techniques, legal authorities and other aspects of the program. The last, in June 2008, was offered to 10 members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and covered “discussion of EITs and the OLC [Office of Legal Counsel] opinions. Specific mentions of waterboarding numerous time.”
Yet in October 2008, following a Washington Post report on the existence of the OLC memos, Mr. Rockefeller disclaimed any knowledge of the opinions. “If White House documents exist that set the policy for the use of coercive techniques such as waterboarding, those documents have been kept from the committee,” said Mr. Rockefeller. “That is unacceptable, and represents the latest example of the Bush Administration withholding critical information from Congress and the American people in an attempt to limit our oversight of sensitive intelligence collection activities.”
Amusingly, or almost, Senator Rockefeller’s denial is flatly contradicted by his own report on the subject released last month, which notes that “On May 19, 2008, the Department of Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency provided the Committee with access to all opinions and a number of other documents prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel . . . concerning the legality of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. Five of these documents provided addressed the use of waterboarding.”
So much for the canard that the Bush Administration didn’t keep Congress informed. But Congressional Democrats are being equally disingenuous when they pretend they could do nothing about what they were hearing from the CIA. Members could, and sometimes did, object to proposed CIA actions and could stop them in their tracks.
Jennifer Rubin provided this link to the Rockefeller predicament, applied these Dem thruthfulness issues to Obama making national security into a partisan attack:
There is a new game in town. The president tried a selective declassification and suggested some potential investigation and prosecution of those who worked to defend the country from peril. Someone or some group of individuals don’t appreciate the gamesmanship and have thrown open the hatches — out comes the information about forgotten briefings. And Rep. Pete Hoekstra hints there is more where that came from.
Obama and the Democrats in Congress violated a cardinal rule: don’t play politics with national security. They now should be prepared to pay the price.
Rockefeller does not face West Virginia voters in 2010, but Pelosi does in an extremely safe seat. But Pelosi will be an issue in toss-up House seats along with other Democrats with cerdibility problems like Charlie Rangel and John Murtha. Nevermind what happens with Chris Dodd and Roland Burris. A model they can use is one similar to Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America that swept the GOP into power durig the last first mid-term election after a Democrat president took over in 1994.
But the GOP will have to get off their ass and not be afraid to go on the offensive. They will also have to end the bickering that’s going on within the party. The RINO label has hurt the party, but not as bad as the Dems’s MSM would have you believe. They will also have to stop peeing on their own shoes as they have with Jim Bunning’s untimely comments about Mitch McConnel and Jeb Bush’s negative crack about Ronald Regan.
It will need to be about the issues and a narrative that lays out Democrat malfeasance, hypocisy and its self-serving legislative agenda.
UPDATE: Betsy Newmark posts on Pelosi and adds this:
Do her minions in the Democratic caucus appreciate being lied to by their leader? Or will they just smile and pretend to believe her convoluted prevaricating about what she knew and when she knew it? I wonder if there aren’t some Democrats in the House who would be happy to see her brought low, Steny Hoyer perhaps? Jane Harman must be chuckling a bit. Nancy didn’t get where she is today without trampling on a few toes.
Now that she’s been exposed, I guess it’s about time for the President to come out and nobly call for all the partisan fingerpointing to end and for us to turn to the future. It’s no fun if any but Republicans are going to be skewered.
Naturally I agree with Newmark, but hypocrisy involving Pelosi will be three-fold. First, she just won’t have to deal with it. Second, the media will give her a pass. Third, her base and party don’t care that she lied as it is all about attacking republicans.
Newmark points to the fact that Pelosi may not have support of her entire caucas. Steny Hoyer, the number two Dem in the House is a rival. Jane Harmon does not like Pelosi either. But its doubtful Dems will throw their hyper partisan leader out as she’s too powerful and they love her tanacity.
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This post was written by bobsikes on May 9, 2009
