FOX News Channel "The O'Reilly Factor" Interview with Rep. Mac Thornberry - Transcript
FOX NEWS CHANNEL "THE O'REILLY FACTOR" INTERVIEW WITH REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R-TX) INTERVIEWER: BILL O'REILLY
SUBJECT: HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI'S PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF CIA INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES
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MR. O'REILLY: Tonight, as we reported, President Obama now says he does not want an investigation into how al Qaeda was interrogated. But Nancy Pelosi, it seems, still does.
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): (From videotape.) I have always been for a truth commission because I think this is very important.
MR. O'REILLY: Well, that's interesting because there are charges Ms. Pelosi herself knew exactly how the CIA was interrogating captured al Qaeda, including the use of waterboarding.
SPEAKER PELOSI: (From videotape.) We were not, I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used. What they did tell us is that they had some legislative counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel opinions that they could be used, but not that they would.
MR. O'REILLY: Joining us now from Washington, Congressman Mac Thornberry from Texas, a member of the House Intelligence Committee.
So your reaction to the speaker's she wasn't told it was used but that it could be used?
REP. THORNBERRY: Well, here's what I know. There were continuous briefings of the top leadership in the House and the Senate from 2002 all the way through 2006. Press reports are there were at least 30 briefings during that time. And Pete Hoekstra, the head Republican on the House committee, has asked for that information to be declassified so we know exactly who was there when.
We know that Ms. Pelosi was among that group who was briefed during that time. And we know from people who were in the room that it was a full briefing. In other words, they laid it all out on the floor. So I think she may not remember all of the facts.
MR. O'REILLY: But she's putting herself in a real noose situation because she was quite clear, she couldn't have been clearer, that nobody ever told her they were waterboarding, it was just they might waterboard. Now, that's her statement, and she seems to be sticking to it. We called her, asked her on, she doesn't come on this program. But that's what she's sticking with. Now, Congressman, were you told that the CIA was waterboarding some al Qaeda?
REP. THORNBERRY: Not during this period. It was restricted only to the top Republican and Democrat on the Intelligence Committees and the top speaker, minority leader --
MR. O'REILLY: So the fact that you were on the Intelligence Committee didn't mean that you got that kind of a briefing. But you're saying that because Nancy Pelosi was higher up in the food chain that she would have been privy to that information.
REP. THORNBERRY: Exactly. She was in that group of eight people that got those briefings regularly. But one thing I do know, Bill, is that starting in 2005, I chaired the Oversight Subcommittee, and we conducted an investigation of this program on a bipartisan basis. There were only a couple of details that we could not get access to. One of them was the techniques that have now been released. And the reason we couldn't get it is because they had already been briefed to that upper group. So I double checked that to be sure that they had been briefed to that upper group. I asked them whether they got it, and indeed they had.
MR. O'REILLY: All right. As you saying then Nancy Pelosi is lying?
REP. THORNBERRY: I think she is not remembering correctly the briefings that were --
MR. O'REILLY: No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Congressman, Congressman, you don't forget something like that. I mean, that's a big deal. That's like your birthday, okay? You don't forget that.
REP. THORNBERRY: I don't know what's going on in her memory or in her intentions. What I do know is that the CIA regularly briefed those top eight people more than 30 times starting in 2002, and she was among that group.
MR. O'REILLY: All right. This is what confuses not only me but a lot of Americans. You remember Senator Graham from Florida? He was a bigshot in the intel group. He says, they didn't tell me, they didn't tell me. Now, the other senators who were sitting with him on the committee said, yeah, we knew.
All right, but Graham says, no, I didn't know. So you know, I don't know how to process this. Can you give us some guidance on it?
REP. THORNBERRY: I can't give much help, although I will say that this call that we've made to declassify exactly who was sitting there --
MR. O'REILLY: That would tell the tale.
REP. THORNBERRY: It would tell the tale, and it ought to come out since this has become an issue. And we have records in the committee, and we want to match those records together with what the CIA has so we know the full story.
MR. O'REILLY: And there are minutes taken at those meetings, so you'd know exactly who was there and exactly what was said. And then we'd know if Pelosi was lying or not. So let's see if we can get them out. Congressman, thanks very much.
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