Pelosi Clears Bush Of Wrongdoing
May 11, 2009 Political
Nancy Pelosi has stated on several occasions that she was informed of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) but that she was never told that they had been used. Pelosi received her information during classified briefings and she no doubt believed that the secrecy would protect her.
Unfortunately for her, Barack Obama released classified memos of detailed legal opinions rendered by Bush administration lawyers. Those memos were extremely detailed and laid out the legal justification for the EITs including the opinion that they were within the boundaries established in the law passed by Congress.
The CIA was not particularly thrilled with the release of the memos because that act gave our enemies information about how we do business. The CIA was also not pleased with all the talk of people being prosecuted. In order to set the record straight the CIA released its own memos detailing the classified briefings. Those memos as well as the statements by others in attendance clearly show that Pelosi was briefed not only on the EITs but that they had been used. These memos contradict her denials and demonstrate that she lied.
Pelosi has now taken a new tact with regard to this issue. Continued denial is pointless so Pelosi is now asserting that the lawyers told her it was legal:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted Friday that she was briefed only once about the “enhanced” interrogation techniques being used on terrorism suspects and that she was assured by lawyers with the CIA and the Department of Justice that the methods were legal. Fox News
Her statement now clears Bush administration officials of any wrong doing because they too were told by the lawyers that the EITs were legal. When Pelosi wanted to go after Bush she was content lying to the public and accusing him of wrongdoing but now she is saying that she did no wrong because the lawyers said it was OK. This means that everyone who followed the legal opinion is in the clear.
Another important issue is the lawyers themselves. They gave a well reasoned legal opinion and should not be prosecuted for interpreting the law to the best of their ability. If these folks are made scapegoats for rendering an opinion (one I happen to agree with) then this will leave the door open to prosecute all lawyers that render an opinion that turns out to be unpopular.
We have a judicial system where courts decide if laws are Constitutional. If anyone had questions about the legality of the opinion rendered then they could have taken the issue to the courts and had the courts decide. Since no one did that it is reasonable to assume that those who were briefed were comfortable with the legal opinion.
Obama opened a Pandora’s Box when he released the Bush legal memos. His decision to do so was politically motivated and his desire was to shed bad light on the Bush administration. Unfortunately for him and his party, Nancy Pelosi got caught in the crossfire.
Obama can claim the EITs were torture but the legal opinion is that they were not. Until a court decides on the issue or until Congress changes the law, they are still legal.
However, Obama did not want to take the chance that a court would confirm the legality so he released the memos which effectively killed the program.
Doing that was bad enough but if he had never mentioned prosecuting people Pelosi would not have been caught in the lie and Democrats would not look like the hypocrites we know them to be.
Rookie in the White House making rookie mistakes. Those unintended consequences will come back to bite him over and over because he does not know what he is doing.
For you people in San Francisco, Pelosi lied and played politics on this issue. She pretended to be against this and not to know of it when she knew all about it and was in favor of it.
It is time to show her the door.
Others:
Instapundit | Mudville Gazette
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