The Speaker of House and CIA Briefings

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's weekly press briefing and photo op went off as usual today. But new information on her disagreement over when and what the CIA briefed her on was not forth coming. Reporters tried to press Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on the matter. The petulant Speaker of the House responded to questions with non answers.

"I have made the statement that I'm going to make on this. I don't have any more to say on this," she said at her weekly news conference. "I stand by my comments. And what we are doing is staying on our course and not being distracted from it."

Fox News: Pelosi: 'I Stand By' Accusation Against CIA

With that, she ended the press conference.

The political and media storms is building around the Speaker since her turbulent press conference when she flatly stated that the CIA lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques. Republicans wanted to create a bipartisan panel of house members to investigate the matter, but that proposal was voted down 252-172. 

So House Republicans turned to the FBI to get answers.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, when asked if a probe was under way, told Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Wednesday that he needed a referral before launching an investigation into the allegation.

So Issa offered one.

"If the CIA is lying to any of us -- and I've been briefed many times by them as a member of the Intelligence Committee -- it puts me in a position of not being able to do my job properly," he said.

Fox News: Republicans Push for FBI Probe into Pelosi's Accusations Against CIA

Most the media is still pursuing this because if it is true there are Federal Crimes that need to be prosecuted. If it is not true, the Speaker of the House, second in line for the Presidency, has demonstrated her complete and utter contempt for the men and women charged with keeping the United States safe. Either way, there is a story to be told.

The point of all this is simple. Nancy is following a bad play book. No matter how much the speaker plugs her ears and pretends not to hear, this is not going to go away. When the Speaker of the House publicly accused the CIA of lying to her, she effectively charged the people briefing her with Federal crimes.

For better or worse that snowball is on its way down the hill. It will be interesting to see how gets picked up on the way and who gets splattered at the bottom of the hill.

- 30 -

"The CIA and other American defense and intelligence agencies cannot trust Nancy Pelosi without national secrets, let alone our national security, until this matter is resolved. We need an investigation into the basis of Speaker Pelosi's very severe accusations. If true, there has been a serious violation of federal laws. If false, American national security requires a new speaker of the House. The severity of Speaker Pelosi's accusations leaves no middle ground."
- Rep. Steve King (R-IL)