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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/23/republicans-claim-lawmakers-loop-interrogations/
Republicans Claim Top Lawmakers Were in the Loop on Interrogations
Members of Congress were briefed on the subject of interrogation techniques more than 30 times since 2002, FOX News has learned. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was at the first meeting, and she raised no objections.
FOXNews.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shown here on Capitol Hill Tuesday, was among those briefed on CIA interrogations.
FOX News has learned there were more than 30 meetings and briefings with members of Congress on the subject since 2002.
The first such briefing dealt with the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the Al Qaeda operations chief who ran the training camps in Afghanistan where the Sept. 11 hijackers were trained. Sources said California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now the speaker of the House, attended the meeting with then-Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla. (who later became CIA director), and she did not raise any objections.
The briefings were given to the chairmen and ranking members of the intelligence committees in the House and Senate until 2006. That could cover Sen. John Rockefeller, W.Va., and Rep. Jane Harman, Calif., both Democrats, as well as Sen. Pat Roberts, Kan., Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Mich., all Republicans.
Defenders of the interrogation program note that if Congress had wanted to kill the program, all it had to do was withhold funding, which didn't happen.
Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has personally requested from Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair an unclassified list of names of all members of Congress who attended those briefings, complete with dates and locations.
He told FOXNews.com the list will probably show many members were briefed "early and often."
"The purpose of this, of course, is to underscore the fact that people in Congress knew or were aware of the program, its details, and they approved of this program and authorized its funding," said Jamal Ware, spokesman for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.
Republicans have criticized President Obama for opening the door prosecuting Justice Department lawyers who drafted the so-called "torture memos," which authorized harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding. But they've also raised the point that if Democrats pursue charges against the lawyers, they'd be shielding others involved in the interrogation program.
"They can't blame the politicians in Congress who approved these tactics in 2002 because these are their friends," Rep. Lamar Smith, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an e-mail. "So they're placing the blame on Bush administration officials, political appointees."
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he would follow the law with regard to the interrogation program.
A number of Democrats have defended the call for probes.
"One way or another there needs to be a careful review and a public accounting of these troublesome policies," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement Wednesday, adding that an ongoing Senate Intelligence Committee probe should yield a lot of the answers Americans are looking for. "And I think issues of prosecution are principally the responsibility of the Justice Department to evaluate."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has been pushing for an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate.
"I'm not one who feels we should turn the page if you haven't read the page," Leahy said.
But while some aides back the idea of an independent, 9/11 Commission-style body to investigate, FOX News has learned that Obama opposes the idea.
FOX News' Jim Angle and FOXNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report.
Republicans Claim Top Lawmakers Were in the Loop on Interrogations
Members of Congress were briefed on the subject of interrogation techniques more than 30 times since 2002, FOX News has learned. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was at the first meeting, and she raised no objections.
FOXNews.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shown here on Capitol Hill Tuesday, was among those briefed on CIA interrogations.
FOX News has learned there were more than 30 meetings and briefings with members of Congress on the subject since 2002.
The first such briefing dealt with the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the Al Qaeda operations chief who ran the training camps in Afghanistan where the Sept. 11 hijackers were trained. Sources said California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now the speaker of the House, attended the meeting with then-Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla. (who later became CIA director), and she did not raise any objections.
The briefings were given to the chairmen and ranking members of the intelligence committees in the House and Senate until 2006. That could cover Sen. John Rockefeller, W.Va., and Rep. Jane Harman, Calif., both Democrats, as well as Sen. Pat Roberts, Kan., Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Mich., all Republicans.
Defenders of the interrogation program note that if Congress had wanted to kill the program, all it had to do was withhold funding, which didn't happen.
Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has personally requested from Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair an unclassified list of names of all members of Congress who attended those briefings, complete with dates and locations.
He told FOXNews.com the list will probably show many members were briefed "early and often."
"The purpose of this, of course, is to underscore the fact that people in Congress knew or were aware of the program, its details, and they approved of this program and authorized its funding," said Jamal Ware, spokesman for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.
Republicans have criticized President Obama for opening the door prosecuting Justice Department lawyers who drafted the so-called "torture memos," which authorized harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding. But they've also raised the point that if Democrats pursue charges against the lawyers, they'd be shielding others involved in the interrogation program.
"They can't blame the politicians in Congress who approved these tactics in 2002 because these are their friends," Rep. Lamar Smith, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an e-mail. "So they're placing the blame on Bush administration officials, political appointees."
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he would follow the law with regard to the interrogation program.
A number of Democrats have defended the call for probes.
"One way or another there needs to be a careful review and a public accounting of these troublesome policies," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement Wednesday, adding that an ongoing Senate Intelligence Committee probe should yield a lot of the answers Americans are looking for. "And I think issues of prosecution are principally the responsibility of the Justice Department to evaluate."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has been pushing for an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate.
"I'm not one who feels we should turn the page if you haven't read the page," Leahy said.
But while some aides back the idea of an independent, 9/11 Commission-style body to investigate, FOX News has learned that Obama opposes the idea.
FOX News' Jim Angle and FOXNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report.
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