L'Affaire Harman and L'Affaire Pelosi

Zachary Roth at TPMMuckraker uncovered this little gem from Newsweek in 2004:

Until a few weeks ago, Patrick Murray was just another ambitious Capitol Hill staffer. As a top aide to Rep. Porter Goss, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, Murray had a reputation as a sharp-tongued partisan lawyer. When Democrats on the committee asked the CIA for information, Murray would cut them off, reminding the agency that only requests backed by the Republican majority should be honored. "He was just impossible," says one staffer who dealt with him. "He was sarcastic, snide and had this uncanny ability to push people's buttons." One former CIA official told NEWSWEEK that Murray leaned on him more than once to declassify information so he could use it to "embarrass the Democrats." Murray was irritated when the agency declined. He regarded much of the CIA as a nest of obstructionist bureaucrats, time-servers who had schemed to undermine the administration's policies--especially in Iraq.

(Emphasis mine)

It is best to remember that Bush and His Evil Minions^™ had 8 years to politicize the state security apparatus, driving out all but hardcore loyalists who would use the levers of the state in pursuit of their own political, partisan, and personal gain.

They have done their level best to poison the bureaucracy.

As such it is best to wait until a report is fully vetted and final before taking it at face value.

So then, what do we make of the reports that she was briefed in 2002 on the use of torture enhanced interrogation techniques in 2002 (here and here)

NOT ON THE TABLE! NOT ON THE TABLE!
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After Pelosi's non-performance regarding even considering impeachment investigations after the Dems took Congress in 2006 (see pic), I'm not generally inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt, but in this case, with a document that Leon Panetta felt compelled to include a cover letter noting that this is very preliminary.

Additionally, as Emptywheel (link above) notes, this "report" almost instantly hit both the mainstream and wingnut press (HumanEvents dot com).

Additionally, Greg Sargent notices that while there might have been a discussion of torture techniques, it is not clear in the document as to whether the Congress critters were told that the techniques were being used.

I do rather believe that Pelosi knew what was going on, and I would guess that it is at least even money that she was specifically briefed about it being done in an ongoing manner: It would explain her recalcitrance on impeachment, because the scandal could pull her down too.

I would also note that involving members of Congress in torture in this manner, so that they would be inclined to oppose any investigation or punitive action, sounds like SOP for Bush/Cheney.