Pelosi: CIA Misled Me on Waterboarding

By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 14, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
Pelosi: CIA Misled Me on Waterboarding
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill, May 6, 2009.   (AP Photo)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she was not complicit in the government’s decision to waterboard terrorist suspects, and she claimed the CIA misled her about whether the interrogation technique considered torture by many was being used. “To the contrary … we were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used,” the California Democrat said of a formal CIA briefing she received in fall 2002.

In 2003, she said, she was informed that senior lawmakers had been briefed on use of the method, but she was not included. In a 2002 briefing, officials referred to legal opinions saying that harsh interrogation techniques could be used, Pelosi said, but she was told they were not being employed. A CIA spokesman said it would be up to Congress to determine the accuracy of notes made by agency personnel at the time they briefed lawmakers. (More Nancy Pelosi stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X