Pelosi Quick To Deflect Questions About CIA Claims
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Most journalists who cover Capitol Hill probably woke up this morning thinking of all the questions they could ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi about her claim last week that CIA misled her on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in a September 2002 briefing. I did.
It's been over one week since reporters had a chance to question the speaker, but today reporters could finally find out if Pelosi regretted her wording, or if she'd received word from CIA Director Leon Panetta recently about declassifying the interrogation briefing memos so she could back up her accusations.
Instead, Pelosi turned her weekly press conference today into an opportunity to tout all that House Democrats have accomplished in the first 5 months of the 111th Congress. Flanked by members of House Democratic leadership, the speaker was eager to discuss energy and health care legislation, but shot down reporters who wanted to talk about anything related to torture.
When I asked her to comment on the political storm her accusation sparked last week, Pelosi said she stands by her comments and that she "won't have anything more to say about it."
Many reporters were shouting questions to follow up, but she managed to find completely unrelated questions and successfully change the subject.
House Republicans have done everything this past week to keep the story in the headlines. They've said the speaker should apologize to the intelligence community and even offered a resolution on the House floor yesterday to create a bipartisan committee investigate Pelosi's claims.
Congress officially started the Memorial Day recess today and won't return until the first week of June. That means Republicans won't have as many opportunities to keep the 'what Pelosi knew and when she knew it' question alive.
As for the speaker, Pelosi is getting far away from Washington and all the questions by traveling to China to talk with leaders there about climate change. A subject the speaker is more than willing to discuss extensively these days.
Jill Jackson is CBS News' Capitol Hill producer.
