Two more bits of information have come to light casting doubt on the CIA's version of events in 2002, when they claim Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the use of torture. The first is that, via Spencer Ackerman, Rep. David Obey sent a letter to CIA director Leon Panetta claiming that the CIA erroneously listed an appropriations staffer as present during the meeting when he wasn't. The second is that the term "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," which appears in the document describing the briefing, Zachary Roth reports, didn't come to use until several years after the briefing itself.
It's been said before, but it's worth remarking that the only public official who seems to be paying a price for the Bush administration's torture policy is Pelosi, which doesn't make any sense. The original rationale for bringing Pelosi into this, from the right's perspective, was proving that what was done wasn't a crime, because otherwise "they wouldn't have briefed Pelosi." Now it seems that we didn't torture, torture isn't illegal, and Nancy Pelosi should step down for not having stopped the Bush administration's illegal torture program. Of course, the only way to really know her degree of responsibility is to look closer at what happened, something the GOP wants to avoid.
-- A. Serwer
