'Moral Calculus' Made Torture OK: Krauthammer

Speakers shifts focus to Bush administration after Panetta rebuff

(NEWSER) - Nancy Pelosi retreated yesterday from her claim the CIA lied to Congress about its interrogation program and shifted the blame to the Bush administration, Politico reports. The speaker said her criticism is "separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe.” Pelosi was rebuffed by CIA head Leon Panetta shortly before issuing her statement. More»

Speaker puts herself at center of storm over Bush policies

(NEWSER) - Whether by accident or design, Nancy Pelosi has turned the debate on the Bush administration's anti-terror program into a high-stakes game of brinksmanship, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post. Pelosi's declaration yesterday that the CIA lied to Congress amounts to "a declaration of war," Balz writes, setting the stage for a long battle certain to claim political casualties. More»

(AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she was not complicit in the government’s decision to waterboard terrorist suspects, and she claimed the CIA misled her about whether the interrogation technique considered torture by many was being used. “To the contrary … we were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used,” the California Democrat said of a formal CIA briefing she received in fall 2002. More»

'Someone appears not to be telling the truth' about waterboarding

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove indulges in a bit of revenge on Nancy Pelosi in his Wall Street Journal column today, writing that "the political persecution of Bush administration officials she has been pushing may now ensnare her." As evidence mounts that the CIA told her as early as 2002 about waterboarding—which "Democrats are calling" torture—Rove wonders whether Pelosi should be considered "an accessory to a crime." More»

Republicans say speaker knew; hope to quiet Dems on matter

(NEWSER) - As calls continue for an investigation of Bush administration officials over torture, Republicans think they may have an ace in the hole: Nancy Pelosi, they say, knew waterboarding had taken place but didn’t try to stop it. Some Republicans think threatening the House Speaker will make her and fellow Democrats reluctant to press the issue, Politico reports. More»