http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/12/national/w144749D83.DTLTop Democrat calls for probe of interrogations
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
(05-12) 18:21 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The House majority leader said Tuesday that Congress should investigate whether the Bush administration authorized the torture of terrorism detainees, and he contended that the Republican focus on what Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned about harsh interrogation methods was a distraction.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was asked at a news conference about a controversy over what Pelosi was told during a 2002 intelligence briefing. Saying the focus of upcoming hearings should be on the interrogation tactics, he also responded: "What was said and when it was said, who said it, I think that is probably what ought to be on the record as well."
Hoyer said after the news conference that he only was referring to an investigation of what many Democrats call torture, not of Pelosi.
Democrats plan to hold hearings on Justice Department memos released last month that justified rough tactics against detainees, including waterboarding — simulated drowning — and sleep deprivation.
Republicans have tried to turn the issue to their advantage by complaining that Pelosi and other Democrats knew of the tactics but didn't protest. Pelosi was briefed in 2002 while on the House Intelligence Committee.
Asked at the news conference whether Democrats were inviting political problems by holding hearings, Hoyer said: "I think the facts need to get out. I think the Republicans are simply trying to distract the American public with who knew what when. My response to that is, look, the issue is not what was said or what was known; the question and focus ought to be on what was done."
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