Souce close to Pelosi: She knew the US was waterboarding

Will the fit hit the shan now that it’s been confirmed that her denials about knowing that we were actively engaged in waterboarding were lies?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now confirms that Pelosi was told in February 2003 by her intelligence aide, Michael Sheehy, that waterboarding was actually used on CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah.

This appears to contradict Pelosi’s account that she was never told waterboarding actually happened, only that the administration was considering using it.

Sheehy attended a briefing in which waterboarding was discussed in February 2003, with Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, who took over Pelosi’s spot as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

This source says Pelosi didn’t object when she learned that waterboarding was being used because she had not been personally briefed about it — only her aide had been told.

The source said Pelosi supported a letter that Harman sent to the administration at the time raising concerns. The source asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of matters discussed in classified intelligence briefings.

Pelosi admits attending one briefing in September 2002, but at a news conference last month, she was adamant that she did not know waterboarding was used.

At that or any other briefing, and that was the only briefing that I was briefed on in that regard, we were not — I repeat, we were not — told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used, ” Pelosi said on April 23.

Some Republicans have called for Pelosi to testify at congressional hearings.

The number two House Democrat — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland — said Tuesday, “I think the facts need to get out” regarding what members of Congress had been told about harsh interrogations.

Various Democrats like Sen. Carl Levin are whining that by releasing the documents that show there were 40 briefings with key Democrats and Republicans on enhanced interrogation tactics, the CIA is “out to get them” in an attempt to “distract” from the fact that the CIA was engaged in “torturing” terrorists like KSM in an attempt to stop future terrorist attacks against the US. But how will Levin and other prominent Dems spin the fact that one of Pelosi’s own has now “outed” her as knowing we were in fact waterboarding terrorists, thereby making her complicit?

This oughta be good. Will they blame Bush?