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Republican House leader John Boehner said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who last week said the CIA had lied to her about torture, "ought to either present the evidence or apologize." (Washington Post)
A coalition of activist groups will today formally ask state bar associations to disbar Bush Justice Department lawyers -- including John Ashcroft, John Yoo and Jay Bybee -- who authorized torture. (Bloomberg News)
Madoff investors and associates Stanley Chais and Carl Shapiro are being "scrutinized" by federal prosecutors as to whether they told Madoff how much in returns they wanted. (WSJ)
AIG has hired the Blackstone Group to advise on a plan to sell shares in its Asian life unit in order to raise money to pay the government back for its four bailouts. (Bloomberg)
Harold Jackson, the op-ed page editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer responds to criticism of the paper's decision to hire as a regular columnist torture architect John Yoo -- and falsely accuses Philly Daily News blogger Will Bunch, who broke the story last week, of disseminating "poor information." (Philadelphia Inquirer)
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Josh
Zachary
Speaker Pelosi has already presented evidence. She was in the meeting and presented her own personal recollection. What better evidence does Boehner expect her to produce? In fact, Speaker Pelosi is the only one who has presented evidence on this matter that would be admissable in court. The CIA, on the other hand, has produced nothing more than inadmissable double hearsay. There is a good reasons why courts won't admit hearsay without some indicia of reliability: its no more credible than the end result of that secret message game we all played as children.
If Representative Boehner wants better evidence, then he needs to join Speaker Pelosi in calling for an investigation.
May 18, 2009 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I watched John King interview Boehner Sunday morning & my jaw dropped when King did not follow up on Boehner's "present the evidence," challenge. And already today I've heard it on CNN & MSNBC at least half a dozen times. And nobody points out that she cannot have evidence. You can't take notes, can't record anything, can't talk about what you see or hear.
I should probably follow Obama's lead & just quit watching the bastards.
May 18, 2009 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is worse than that. Boehner is calling for Pelosi to "prove a negative". You cannot present evidence that a single something does not exist - the whole point she's making is that there can be no evidence here. "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is a similar sentiment.
The burden is on the people claiming that Pelosi lied to present evidence to contradict her statements. "She has asked that the CIA release the notes from that briefing, a request the agency has not granted. "
Boehner is not just perverse, he's completely dishonest on this one.
Also, Zach here wrote "who last week said the CIA had lied to her about torture," but Pelosi said Congress was misled, so the "lied" meme is wrong. Boehner said "lying or misleading" so Zach is creeping into the genre known as fiction, here.
May 18, 2009 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good idea. for certain, Republicans will never ask for an investigation because any investigation will not only uncover the facts told to Speaker Pelosi, but it will also show the lengths the Bush cabal went to to get some shred of intel to back them up on their invasion of Iraq. All we have now to authenticate any reason for the invasion is the word of the erratic Bush cabal. So I say, lets have a full truth commission that not only investigates Pelosi's statements but also the statements made by the Bush Administration about their reasons for the invasion of Iraq. Let us put the Republican House leader on notice that we intend to follow this malfeasance to whomever was the perp or perps in ginning up the case for the war with Iraq. Bring it on I say.
May 19, 2009 1:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
But it's having the desired effect. All my wife has to do is watch John King or one of the other buttwipes on RNCNN talk with Gingrich about Pelosi, and since she already can't stand Pelosi, her mind is made up for her - she's guilty as sin, evidence be damned. Well, I'm not playing that game. I wasn't a Pelosi fan, but I am now. So there.
May 19, 2009 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink