A growing chorus of Republican lawmakers is calling for an investigation into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s accusation that the CIA lied to Congress about Bush-era interrogation techniques.
FBI Director Robert Mueller, when asked if a probe was under way, told Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Wednesday that he needed a referral before launching an investigation into the allegation.
So Issa offered one.
“If the CIA is lying to any of us — and I’ve been briefed many times by them as a member of the Intelligence Committee — it puts me in a position of not being able to do my job properly,” he said.
Mueller said he would consult with the Justice Department on whether he should investigate the charges.
The exchange is the latest development in a controversy that began with Democrats seeking to hold Bush officials accountable for enhanced interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects. But Pelosi’s contradicting statements on if and when she was briefed on the methods have given Republicans ample ammunition in the partisan conflict.
Rep. Steve King, R-Ill., also called on Mueller to initiate an investigation.
“The CIA and other American defense and intelligence agencies cannot trust Nancy Pelosi without national secrets, let alone our national security, until this matter is resolved,” King said in a written statement. “We need an investigation into the basis of Speaker Pelosi’s very severe accusations. If true, there has been a serious violation of federal laws. If false, American national security requires a new speaker of the House. The severity of Speaker Pelosi’s accusations leaves no middle ground.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went even further, calling on Pelosi to resign. He called her charges “stunning” and “dishonest” and said that she’s disqualified herself to be speaker.
But Democrats have circled the wagons around her, some even embracing her accusations.
Only a handful of Republicans are calling on her to step down. That’s because most of them are happy to have her as a symbol of the Democratic Party and say privately she is precisely the kind of person they like to run against, a lightning rod and a walking controversy.
One GOP activist told FOX News that as far as Republicans are concerned, her position as speaker has never been more secure.
(Source: Fox News)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
10 Responses
Bad move by the Republicans. They should leave Mrs. Pelosi’s foot in her mouth, and hope it stays there for the next few years.
Besides, Obama is a nice guy (regardless of his policies), and the Republicans need someone to focus on.
That is a wonderful idea! And while they are at it, they should reward the wonderful people who uncovered the plot to blow up those two places in the Bronx!
And then let the CIA get back to the business of uncovering information to promote the common defense and domestic tranquility of this country from sea to shining sea.
akuperma, I just want to thank-you for revealing what you are; a die-hard Obama supporter.
Anyone who thinks that Obama is a nice guy after Obama said during the campaign,”…and the Customs agents should stop terrorizing aliens. We need change….” is a real fool.
And so was Obama for writing an executive order during the first day on the job closing Guatanamo Bay in one year. Just check the Federal Registry folks for me executive orders from Obama. Then maybe we could wash your brains out akuperma.
1, He is a “nice guy” so therefore what?? He can be wrong and he IS wrong!!
We dont have to be quiet because he is a “nice guy.” That is totally krum and why this child was elected in the first place.
Amen Flatbush Bubby!!!
2010 isnt soon enough!!
1, i have a feeling the yoizel was a nice guy too but he was VERY wrong!!!!
“Flatbush ‘bubby'” – actually I’m a patient registered Republican who is content to let the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot, which I am confident they will do over the next three years. With people like Nancy Pelosi on his side, the Obamas will be back in Chicago by February 2013.
In World War II we kept Axis prisoners in the U.S.
America has a long tradition of “killing with kindness” policies against foreign POWs (many “blue bloods” are in fact descended from Hessian POWS captured in the revolution). Why put them in Cuba is ridiculous, and claiming that government employees working overseas aren’t subject to American law was an absurd claim.
And how does the CIA get involved in chasing domestic terrorists who have no foreign connections? It’s not their job. It would be like asking the Army to chase pirates, or the IRS to hand out parking tickets. The FBI and the police chase domestic terrorists.
akuperma, if you want to put words in my mouth, you may. Intelligence is yes promoting the common defense by uncovering information about our enemies who from abroad want to attack and destroy the United States. I think we could all figure out some people like that.
The reason why we put the terrorists in Cuba is because of an insane Supreme Court ruling in 1950 I think it was. So, the Bush administration came up with this eitza. But, now all foreign nationals are entitled to the constitutional legal protections that we take for granted. So, in essence, you are right that Guatanamo Bay is obsolete because as soon as we capture enemy aliens, they are entitled to full rights from the Constitution.
The term blue bloods actually was started to refer to those Americans who are descended from the original Puritans from the Mayflower. That was a way to differentiate them from any other immigrant that came here after 1620. It became a colliquialism for anyone from Boston or Bahstahn.
Axis prisoners in the U.S.? I don’t think so. The State Department classified Jewish refugees from WWII as aliens and stuck them in Oswego, New York. Is that what you are referring to?
If Bush announced that they were “lawful” combatants, then the Geneva conventions would apply. They would be help for the duration of the war with the Muslim terrorists. By claiming they were doing something “illegal”, they get rights. Criminals’ rights are in the constitutions. Soldiers captured are covered by the treaties the US signed – they are treated nicer than common criminals, but if the war lasts indefinitely, they never get released.
Most Americans consider anyone here by the end of the 18th century to be a blue blood – as long as they are white. It doesn’t make a difference if they were roundhead refugees, Hessians, debtors sold for their debts, Jacobites, etc, or which colony they settled in (as long as it was one of the colonies that formed the USA – Spanish colonists’ descendants don’t count).
Many if not most Axis prisoners were locked up in the USA. It was hard to escape, and a lot cheaper to send them here in empty troop ships rather than keep them near their own lines and have to ship over food to feed them. Remember that during the war there was a massive one-way traffic of troops and supplies to Europe, and the ships returned empty. If any asked for a writ of Habeus Corpus, the War Department would have told the court the person was a Prisoner of War, and that would have ended the discussion (part of Bush’s problem is that some of the people he seized were not combatants, and he didn’t want to say “oops” and apologize).
6, you passul yourself by proclaiming yourself an obama supporter. The facts are that President Bush and VP Cheney did NOTHING wrong which should have them put in jail.
If you want to talk about people on your side that should be in jail lets talk about Clinton for lying to a grand jury etc., and we should also talk about Hoof In Mouth Biden who disclosed the location of the bunker. Such a disclosure is subject to TEN YEARS IN PRISON. Is there any doubt the messiah, the annointed one, sent him off the Balkans suddenly? What oh what are they going to do with this guy??
Flatbush Bubby, akuperma was just saying that Obama has a ‘nice-guy’ image, and is hard to attack. Pelosi, however has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerously unhinged.
And how is akuperma proving he’s “a die-hard Obama supporter” by saying “leave Mrs. Pelosi’s foot in her mouth, and hope it stays there for the next few years”?