Bad morning for Pelosi

Two new developments in the “what did Pelosi know about waterboarding” series spell trouble for the Speaker.

First, CNN reports that an aide told Pelosi in February 2003 that waterboarding had been used on Abu Zubaydah. This contradicts Pelosi’s assertion that she only knew about the legal rationale for waterboarding, not that it had been used.

Sheehy attended a briefing in which waterboarding was discussed in February 2003, with Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, who took over Pelosi’s spot as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

This source says Pelosi didn’t object when she learned that waterboarding was being used because she had not been personally briefed about it — only her aide had been told.

This looks pretty bad for Pelosi, as though she avoided any “personal briefing” to maintain deniability.

Second, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is now reluctantly admitting that Congressional hearings on the matter should include questions about what Pelosi knew.

The first of those hearings is today, a Senate Judiciary Committee that starts in, oh, about 5 minutes. The witness lineup today means the Pelosi issue probably won’t take center stage, but that might change with future hearings.