Pelosi on Bush Administration, CIA: They Misled Us All the Time

At an explosive press conference this morning, House Speak Nancy Pelosi fielded a barrage of reporters' questions about what she knew about the administration's use of waterboarding prisoners and when she learned of it.

In her response, Pelosi said the CIA and Bush administration had routinely misled Congressional Democrats and accused Republicans of now trying to deflect attention that should be on them.

When asked about a 2002 CIA briefing about the treatment of prisoners, Pelosi said, "We were told that water boarding was not being used."

A reporter clarified, "Madame Speaker, you are accusing the CIA of lying to you in September of 2002."

"Yes," she said. "Misleading the Congress of the United States."

She later said, "So yes, I am saying the CIA was misleading the Congress and at the same time the administration was misleading the Congress on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

When pressed by reporters about the fact that a staff member of hers was briefed that waterboarding had occurred, Pelosi responded, "I wasn't briefed. I was informed someone else had been briefed."

Finally, Pelosi said that Republicans now want to deflect attention that belongs on them and their role in waterboarding and the Iraq war. Instead, "They misrepresented every step of the way. They don't want the focus on them, so they try to turn the attention on us."

UPDATE: John Boehner Responds to Pelosi's Accusation

A portion of the Pelosi press conference is below: