So Nancy Pelosi has again denied that she was briefed on the fact that we had already committed waterbaording.
But now a spokesman for Pete Hoekstra, the chair of the House intelligence committee, seems to be telling Greg Sargent that as-yet-unreleased documents will prove once and for all that she was.
Greg reports:
Hoekstra spokesperson Jamal Ware says that Hoekstra is now seeking the release of the memos and notes that comprised the basis of the documents that came out today that claimed Dems had been briefed on enhanced interrogation techniques.“He has seen documents that would clarify exactly what the Speaker was briefed on,” Ware tells me, “including whether she was briefed on all enhanced interrogation techniques that had been used.”
Asked if those techniques included waterboarding, Ware replied: “Yes.”
Still, it seems to us that whatever the answer to that narrow question, it misses a more important one. What did Pelosi do in response to the briefing she received? After all, whether waterboarding was discussed as having taken place or only as having been approved for future use, it seems clear that Pelosi had enough information that she should have done what she could to raise some alarms. Of course, as she’s pointed out, these were classified briefings, so her ability to do much publicly was limited. But what about behind the scenes?
We’re looking into what’s already known on this subject, and what’s not, and will let you know what we find.