MSNBC interview with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

[struggle4progress]

MSNBC INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR RON WYDEN (D-OR)
SUBJECT: HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) AND THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY;
SUPREME COURT VACANCY
INTERVIEWER: ANDREA MITCHELL TIME: 1:00 P.M. EDT DATE: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009

... SEN. WYDEN: Andrea, I can't speculate on what Nancy Pelosi was told at that time. What I can tell you is there is a 1947 law that says all the members of the Intelligence Committee must be kept currently and fully informed, and the Bush administration consistently didn't comply with that law. So when I finally was told late in 2006, I and Senator Feinstein and Senator Hagel wrote a classified letter making it very clear that objected to what was going on, and I hope we'll be able to get that classified letter declassified very quickly ...

... The American people deserve to know what Senator Feinstein, Senator Hagel and I said in voicing our concerns about this program. And yes, that law was violated, and members of the Intelligence Committee on which I serve were kept in the dark ...

And by the way, an additional important point in all this, in my view, given the events of the last few days, is to remember the Abu Ghraib case. When you think about the Abu Ghraib case, what was particularly troubling was these low-ranking officers were the ones that faced serious penalties. It was the high-ranking people who orchestrated it all who were getting off scot-free. I want to get at those questions in this investigation ...

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007424&docId=l:972871949&start=39

hattip: http://loadedorygun.net/diary/1797/wyden-kept-in-the-dark-on-torture-calls-cheneys-bluff