May 26th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson, former Attorney General Edwin Meese and ten other national leaders have called for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step down for “endangering the national security of the United States” amid escalating controversy over her claims intelligence officials lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques.
According to the letter, “Speaker Pelosi has chosen to politicize the CIA and to demoralize its employees in order to take one more parting shot at the Bush administration, and to try to distract the public from her potentially career-ending exercise of bad judgment. By politicizing the intelligence community, Speaker Pelosi is reviving one of Washington’s most tired and ugly old ways.”
The controversy began when Pelosi said on April 23rd in reference to a 2002 intelligence briefing that “At that or any other briefing… we were not, I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used.”
On May 14th, it only grew as she accused the CIA of lying to her: “Those briefing me in Sept. 2002 gave me inaccurate and incomplete information… The CIA was misleading the Congress.”
The CIA Director, Leon Panetta—appointed by Democrat Barack Obama—defended his agency, saying, “It is not our policy to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values.”
Wilson, Meese, and other national leaders in their letter wrote that “The national security of the United States is more important than politics.”
Wilson explained, “If it comes down to Pelosi keeping a powerful political position or protecting the security of the nation, security comes first, and Pelosi has to go.”
“Pelosi, number two in line to succeed the Presidency, has completely destroyed her credibility with the intelligence community, and on intelligence-issues central to protecting the security of the United States,” Wilson declared.
“And anyone who cannot be trusted to protect the security of the nation has no place in a leadership position in any branch or office of our representative government,” Wilson concluded.
Editor’s Note: The letter’s signatories are:
Edwin Meese, former Attorney General
David Keene, Chairmain, American Conservative Union
Frank J. Gaffney, President, Center for Security Policy
Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America
Alfred Regnery, Publisher, American Spectator
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
Brent Bozell, President, Media Research Center
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Becky Norton Dunlop, President, Council for National Policy
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Ken Blackwell, former U.S. Ambassador, U.N. Human Rights Commission
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.