Steele Dodges Torture Question

Michael Steele has “a personal opinion” on whether the CIA’s interrogation techniques amounted to torture, but he refused to share it with David Gregory on Meet the Press today. “That’s not appropriate,” the RNC chairman said. But Steele did defend Dick Cheney and said Nancy Pelosi “stepped in it big time” by accusing the CIA of misleading her.

The speaker let other officials do the talking on the Sunday shows:

• Jim Webb said the dispute between Pelosi and the CIA isn’t “that big a deal" on This Week.
• Mitch McConnell told Fox News Sunday that there’s no point in investigating Pelosi’s claims and that President Obama’s closure of Guantanamo Bay is more about currying favor with Europe.
• On Face the Nation, the ACLU’s executive director called Obama’s decision to resurrect military tribunals for terror suspects a publicity coup for al-Qaeda.
• On This Week, Liz Cheney blamed a former Colin Powell staffer for concocting “fantasies” about her father.
• The perma-tanned John Boehner told State of the Union he didn’t mind when Obama jokingly referred to him as “a person of color.” “You only tease the ones you love,” the Republican retorted.

(More Nancy Pelosi stories.)