Nancy Pelosi Questions Funding of NYC Mosque Criticism

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: In The News

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., answers questions during a Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 24, 2010.

(Credit: Louie Traub)

Updated 5:44 p.m. Eastern Time

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is raising questions about who is funding criticism of the so-called "Ground Zero mosque."

Pelosi told KCBS is San Francisco yesterday that she joins "those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded." She added: "How is this being ginned up?"

In a follow-up statement today on the project - an Islamic cultural center that includes a mosque called the Cordoba House that would be built two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks - Pelosi said the location of the project is a "local decision," though "the freedom of religion is a Constitutional right."

She said that she agrees with the Interfaith Alliance and Anti-Defamation League that the funding for the project should be transparent, as well as this portion of a statement from those groups: "At the same time, we should also ask who is funding the attacks against the construction of the center."

Yet unlike the actual project being debated, criticism of its construction doesn't need much in the way of funding - it's coming largely from Republicans who appear to see political advantage in staking out opposition to construction of the building.

In addition, there are those on Pelosi's side of the aisle who have said the project should move elsewhere - including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

There is, it should be noted, at least some direct funding of the opposition -- a New Hampshire-based group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative is running ads opposing the project on New York City buses.

*correction: This post originally suggested Pelosi had stated "we should also ask who is funding the attacks against the construction of the center." It has been corrected to reflect the fact that she merely said she agreed with that statement.

More Coverage of the "Ground Zero Mosque" Controversy

Obama has "No Regrets" Over Weighing in on "Ground Zero Mosque"
N.Y. Gov. David Paterson Plans to Meet With "Ground Zero Mosque" Backers
Pat Buchanan Says Gingrich "Political Opportunist," Went "Too Far"
Mosque Opponents Leaving Ground Zero Shops Alone
Reid: Ground Zero Mosque Should be Somewhere Else
GOP to Hammer Obama, Dems on Ground Zero Mosque
Obama Defends Ground Zero Mosque

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by ebld154 September 13, 2010 8:29 PM EDT: How did anyone ever vote for this woman? Oh, that's right! No one voted for her, like no one voted for Obama. Or at least that's what many voters are now saying. She is completely clueless as to what right and wrong are. She will say anything that she feels is in direct opposition to what conservatives think or believe. Pelosi also does anything that is inherantly wrong. This woman is a demon.; Reply to this comment


by tuathadedannan September 10, 2010 9:26 AM EDT: Bravo! When in doubt, accuse secret societies with hidden agendas. Maybe it is a conspiracy funded by the Knights of Malta (they killed Kennedy, you know). Why is it when people are against something that the so called "liberal minded" set is for, the standard practice is to accuse the effort of being bankrolled and backed by nefarious, shadowy figures, but when things are the other way around the people against the issue in question are called "a grass roots organization"?; Reply to this comment


by nojoy01 August 22, 2010 7:52 PM EDT: "Pelosi told KCBS is San Francisco yesterday that she joins "those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded." She added: "How is this being ginned up?"
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Ms Pelosi, let me see if I can explain this to you. When polls show that 70% of the people of this country are opposed to the building of a Mosque at (or near) "ground zero" for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on this country nothing has to be "funded" or "ginned up". What is happening is that you are confusing news reports about the grass roots opposition to the location of the Mosque with a "funded" (paid for) attempt to raise opposition to an issue that is already opposed, by 70% of the people of this country. This uproar is not about the right of the members of that Mosque to build a new center for worship which, by the way, is covered in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Now, I am told, by the news media, that there is a group who is buying advertising to the LOCATION of the Mosque on hiway billboards. I am sure that other groups/individuals are also buying radio spots, newspaper advertising, and maybe even some television ads in opposition to the LOCATION of the Mosque. Guess what Ms Pelosi, Those people spending their money to voice their opposition to the LOCATION of the Mosque is an activity ALSO covered under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United State. You do remember that quaint old document, don't you, Ms Pelosi? In short the uproar is about the incredibly intense feelings that apparently still exist about the 9/11 attacks and the fact that the terrorists corrupted a religion to justify their attacks.; Reply to this comment

by voxpopulus August 20, 2010 7:46 PM EDT

It's funded by "Republicans Against the Constitution"

With added funds coming from "Republicans Against Religious Freedom"

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by makofsanity August 24, 2010 1:56 PM EDT: Its funded by Americans who realise that they have the Constitutionally Guuaranteed right to assemble, and protest when they wish, despite what you and your one way thought process friends might think.


by brnfream August 20, 2010 5:25 PM EDT: Hey pelosi, the people funding this opposition are the same people who pay you salary. The AMERICAN taxpayer. Each his own. Freedom of religion is one thing. A religion that promotes "death" to anyone who is not Islam in it's true form it terrorism! Like it or not, some people have read the Quaran (?). And they (Muslims) do not wish us well. READ up on it. I cannot believe the stupid, head in the sandboxpeople we have in our government. We are doomed!; Reply to this comment


by guyfrompa46 August 19, 2010 3:48 PM EDT: How in the world did this woman get to this position in our government? Please tell me.. The people who voted for her should be locked up for stupidity.; Reply to this comment


by guyfrompa46 August 19, 2010 3:48 PM EDT: Why isn't this moron checking on the possiblity of Iran funding the Mosque? who's side is this witch on anyway?; Reply to this comment


by guyfrompa46 August 19, 2010 3:32 PM EDT: This is not about the legal right to put it there.. It's about doing the right thing. Why is that so hard to understand?; Reply to this comment


by guyfrompa46 August 19, 2010 3:30 PM EDT: Why isn't Pelosi investigating the new Black Panthers for threating people if they didn;t vote for the clown prince Obama... Thats because they swept it under the rug... She's an effin moron.; Reply to this comment


by govmess August 19, 2010 2:37 PM EDT: Dear Nancy, for your information...I oppose building the proposed mosque on sacred ground out of respect for all those Americans who lost their lives on 9/11. My opposition has nothing to do with religion or hatred. These are my feelings and I'm not ashamed of them. And guess what, no one is FUNDING me to have these opinions and feelings. Last I knew, America was a place for freedom of speech and thought. The only reason you could have come up with this insane thought that someone is funding the "attacks" is because it is the way you personally operate as an immoral, unethical Democratic leader who is out of touch with mainstream America. Go take a ride in your super airplane and eat your caviar and drink your champagne that we suckers are payinng for with our hard earned dollars as you do your own thing and follow your own agenda of destruction of this great land. How can you sleep at night?; Reply to this comment