Pelosi: May be 'criminal activity' in detainee abuse

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story


Pelosi, awaiting key reports, sees possible 'criminal activity' in detainee abuse
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Thursday April 9, 2009

Pelosi says she hopes to 'learn a great deal more' from Inspectors General reports on torture, due in June

In a wide-ranging conversation with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday night, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann waited until the final moments of his interview to raise questions on the allegations of torture against the Bush administration. Pelosi said that despite a difference in opinion between Congress and the Obama White House on the matter, "we believe that we have to take a look" to ferret out potential "criminal activity" in the treatment of detainees.

...............

"Clearly they have done what has needed to be done, in terms of going forward, the Obama administration," said Olbermann. "...But to truly eradicate it, you have to go back and clean out the stables. Isn't it necessary to correct the past rather than just saying we're not going to do this again?"

Pelosi, noting a "difference of opinion" between the Obama White House and Congress, said "we believe that we have to take a look at what happened; there may be criminal activity."

"There has to be some way for the truth to be known, A, and B, acted upon, for people engaged in illegal activity," she continued. "And hopefully we'll learn a great deal more from the inspectors general when they have their reports in June on this subject, it's very, very important."

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Pelosi_There_may_be_criminal_activity_0409.html

[babylonsister]

1. Would murder count, Ms. Pelosi?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5423251&mesg_id=5423251

[Ian David]

2. D'ja THINK???

And how much of that abuse took place while Pelosi took impeachment off the table?

[pleah]

3. What planet does this woman live on? n/t

[Demeter]

10. Somewhere Where the Speed of Light Is 55 MPH.

Nancy gives new meaning to the concept of "Slow".

[Amonester]

17. umm... so far, looks like she's from planet Corruption. n/t

[Solly Mack]

4. "may be"

Snort

[LynnTheDem]

5. There is no "may be criminal". The bush regime are either ABOVE all laws...

or they are not.

There are no other choices.

[Flagrante]

6. A day late and a dollar short there, Nancy

Is impeachment back on the table now that the table is gone? Good grief.

[chollybocker]

7. Geez, you're a sharp tack, Nancy.

And the jury's still out on this whole 'Easter Bunny' thing.

[kestrel91316]

8. Wow. Nancy's wringing her hands. I suppose that means we can expect

a STRONGLY WORDED LETTER soon.

I'm sure the guilty parties are real scared.

[Supersedeas]

25. about as scared as the warrantless wiretappers in the AT&T Bldg in SF

[stillcool]

9. They will go after any low-hanging fruit...

and hope that appeases the thirst for justice.

[Zhade]

11. MAY? Fucking idiot. DO YOU EVER READ THE PAPER???

NT!

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. Canuk says "doh"??

.
.
.

Nancy - yur jus a frickin GENIUS!!!

WOW

"there may be criminal activity"

Gawdamm yur kwik gurl!!

[Javaman]

13. ya think?

god, sometimes it's like watching a dog trying to figure out how to get out from under a sheet.

[Vidar]

14. She should hang for treason right along with Bush, Cheney & company.

[The Stranger]

15. She covered for that criminal activity. She is complicit in criminal activity.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. why didn't congress do anything about this years ago?

[merh]

18. Has anyone bothered to show Pelosi and the other members of congress

this statute?

18 USC § 2340A. Torture

(a) Offense.— Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

(b) Jurisdiction.— There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if—

(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United States; or

(2) the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.

(c) Conspiracy.— A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

18 USC § 2340. Definitions

As used in this chapter—

(1) “torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;

(2) “severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from—

(A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;

(B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;

(C) the threat of imminent death; or

(D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and

(3) “United States” means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.

[gratuitous]

19. Nancy Pelosi: A tower of jell-o

"There has to be some way for the truth to be known." Gee Nance, have you read the Red Cross report? How about initiating an investigation of your own? Congress has subpoena power, you know. But I'm glad to hear that this month you think this is "very, very important." Some of us think that this has, without exaggeration, shaken the very foundations of our country, its constitution and what it's supposed to stand for in the world.

Of course, this is just April. By June, you probably won't think it's quite so important after all.

[Generator]

20. Oh God her shit eating idiotic grin when

Olbermann asked her about prosecuting crimes from the Bush area this week. Mealymouthed non-answer as per always.

She has no intention of EVER touching them. At this point I'm starting to despise the enablers more than the criminals. We know what the Bush cabal was about-"our side" are the ones that have betrayed us.

[L. Coyote]

22. She did not stop grinning while discussing torture. That's rather nervous about something.

[classysassy]

21. Follow

the money and you'll realize why the crooks and thugs are never brought to the bar of justice.Until we take the money out of electing our reps,this stuff will continue,most if not all of our congressional critters are crooks.

[DCKit]

23. I demand a blood test.

That woman has either ice water or machine oil running through her veins.

[Neo Atheist]

24. way to take a stand

the fact the word "abuse" is even used to describe what happened sort of eliminates the ambiguity surrounding whether these actions are criminal.