NYC Letter: Pants On Fire V, Part III*

Day 108 of CHOPE

Q: At the time you were briefed, did you raise objections?

It is not appropriate for me to talk about what happens at briefings. It is very interesting that people are talking so freely. But I can say this: they have been talking about it for a while. At that or any other briefing, and that was the only briefing that I was briefed on in that regard, we were not -- I repeat, we were not -- told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used.

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8th),
Speaker of the House, defending the 2002 then-ranking
Democrat on the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence
WASHINGTON April 23, 2009 (SFG)

"BELIEVE ME, I AM AN IMBECILE"
Then-ranking Democrat On The House Permanent
Select Committee On Intelligence Without A Clue

INTELLIGENCE REPORT: PELOSI BRIEFED ON USE
OF INTERROGATION TACTICS IN SEPT. ’02

WASHINGTON May 7, 2009 (ABC News) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" on terrorist suspect Abu Zubaydah in September 2002, according to a report prepared by the Director of National Intelligence’s office and obtained by ABC News.

... The report details a Sept. 4, 2002 meeting between intelligence officials and Pelosi, then-House intelligence committee chairman Porter Goss, and two aides. At the time, Pelosi was the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

The meeting is described as a "Briefing on EITs [scil., enhanced interrogation techniques] including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on authorities, and a description of particular EITs that had been employed."

We draw Ms. Pelosi's attenton to the locutions "including use" and "had been employed". These rather spoil the fairy tale where the CIA legallly vets harsh interrogation procedures as busy work to use up post-9.11 downtime. Then, having passed legal muster, the CIA takes Ms. Pelosi aside and broadly hints (wink, wink) it has no intention of actually using these legitimate methods to procure urgent information from terrorists. No, they say, interrogators are having grand success politely asking terrorists to disgorge plans and rat out their fellows. And if punctilious courtesy cannot break a hardened terrorist, a sugar plum dangled from a string inches from the face never fails to do the trick.

Brendan Daly, a Pelosi spokesman, said Pelosi’s recollection of the meeting is different than the way it is described in the report from the DNI’s office.

A brilliant winning defense. First, a timeline released by the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) shows Ms. Pelosi was briefed on EIT in 2002. Next, the Office of the Director of Intelligence, Dennis Blair, an Obama appointment, releases a report contradicting Ms. Pelosi's account of the briefing. Well? Who are you going to believe those lying Democrats or the lying Democrat?

Having jumped on the waterboarding-is-torture bandwagon, Ms. Pelosi would rather you think her a complete imbecile than admit that waterboarding was fine by her. [Pause.] Whether an opportuning liar or a complete imbecile or both or something worse than both, I think we can all agree, Ms. Pelosi is no Bill Clinton.**

CHOPE.

Lies. Damn lies. Nancy Pelosi.

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* Part I here and Part II here.

** To see how the real deal re-deals the hand he dealt himself, click here. For high fidelity viewing, click here (bummer, purchase required, $44.95).