House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, “has clearly gone off the deep end with her bizarre rants about legitimate town-hall protests by American citizens,” a Salon.com columnist writes. (Associated Press)House Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican attempt to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to document her charge that the CIA lied to Congress about the Bush administrations interrogations policies.
Using their substantial majority, Democrats used a parliamentary motion to turn back a Republican resolution for a bipartisan investigation into the California Democrat’s accusations last week that CIA employees “mislead us all the time.”
The House voted 252-172 to uphold the parliamentary motion to block the inquiry, with all 250 Democrats who voted joined by two Republicans in supporting Mrs. Pelosi.
RELATED:
• Cheney says Pelosi knew of interrogations
“This resolution is a political stunt,” said Mrs. Pelosi’s spokesman, Brendan Daly. “It is a deliberate attempt to distract from the work the House is doing to create jobs and make progress on health care, energy, and education.”
Since Mrs. Pelosi made her charges last week, Republicans have repeatedly demanded she back up the claims.
“The speaker is the second in line for the Presidency, and the weight of the allegations against Americas top foreign intelligence agency makes this bipartisan investigation necessary,” Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, said.
Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, told The Washington Times this week that Mrs. Pelosi’s charges have been a “wrecking ball” to the morale of rank-and-file CIA officers.
The resolution would have set up a four-member subcommittee of the intelligence committee to look into Mrs. Pelosi’s charges. It would have included two Democrats and two Republicans.
Mrs. Pelosi has challenged CIA records that say she was briefed on enhanced interrogation techniques, including such techniques as waterboarding, on Sept. 4, 2002, and said last week the CIA continues to lie today about that briefing.
Still, she has acknowledged she learned the interrogations methods were being used by the CIA from her top intelligence aide after he was briefed on Feb. 5, 2003.
CIA Director Leon Panetta sent a memo to employees the day after Mrs. Pelosi made her accusations, defending their honesty and asking for Washington to tone down the rhetoric.
Afterward, Mrs. Pelosi sent out her own statement saying she did not intend to disparage the CIA, but rather the Bush administration officials who oversaw it.
The two Republicans who voted with Democrats to block the inquiry were Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina and Ron Paul of Texas, both of whom opposed the war in Iraq.
Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Kara Rowland, White House reporter for The Washington Times, is a D.C.-area native. She graduated from the University of Virginia, where she studied American government and spent nearly all her waking hours working as managing editor of the Cavalier Daily, UVa.’s student newspaper.
Her interest in political reporting was piqued by an internship at Roll Call the summer before her ...
By David Eldridge and Cheryl Wetzstein - The Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
By Sean Lengell - The Washington Times
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf
Victory requires Mitt to complete his conversion
By Jeffrey Anderson - The Washington Times
Within weeks of an inspector general’s report that criticized a bid by the D.C. Lottery ...
By David Hood - The Washington Times
Their ranks have thinned over the past three years, but a renewed sense of optimism ...
By Nekesa Mumbi Moody - Associated Press
The Grammys got underway Sunday as The Recording Academy grappled with the task of paying ...
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A mother of three and a passionate conservative, Shirley Husar changes the game with commentary on the political game ala California, U.S.A.
A slice of suburban family life from the diverse perspectives of a politically minded mom.
A wife, mother of three and world waterskiing champion looks at the world through the eyes of her faith.
From family to children, to life on our street and in our world, Lori shares her view of the world
CPAC 2012
26 Photos
CPAC opens in Washington
29 Photos
State of the District
8 Photos
Police raid Occupy D.C. camp
13 Photos
Potomac Phil makes stuffy debut
11 Photos
Romney wins Florida primary
8 Photos
Police stop Occupy D.C. sleepovers
13 Photos
Exiles want Republicans to free Cuba
21 Photos
