In an effort to help out Nancy Pelosi, the number two Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer, asserts that CIA Director Leon Panetta doesn’t know what he’s talking about: “As I understand, Mr. Panetta’s notes don’t reflect that. Mr. Panetta was not there and he wasn’t the director. I haven’t seen the notes.”
Hoyer has now effectively doubled down on Pelosi’s claim, arguing that Panetta is lying when he wrote, “our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing “the enhanced techniques that had been employed.”
Hoyer also said:
What the speaker said was she was not specifically advised as to the specific enhanced interrogation techniques that were being utilized. I believe her when she says that. I’m not going to go into every other facet of this that you — I’m not going to go into every facet of this. I made my statement. I think it’s pretty clear. I hope nobody here misinterprets what I just said.”
That’s inaccurate; Pelosi’s current claim is not that the truth was withheld, but that she was actually told a a falsehood.