Boehner: ‘The president made the right decision’
“The president made the right decision,” Boehner said, adding “our intelligence agenices and the Department of Defense raised considerable concerns about the release of these photos and I think the president is reacting to that.”
When asked by Fox hosts if it was a double standard to object to release torture photos while releasing memos on enhanced interrogation methods, Boehner agreed that it was.
“I was opposed to the release of those memos,” Boehner added.
Boehner also said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, under fire for what she knew when about the interrogation techniques, “now … wants to have it both ways.”
“She was clearly briefed on those interrogation techniques,” Boehner said.
The minority leader brought up yesterday’s comments from No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) regarding how “the facts need to come out” about the memos.
“If they’re going to proceed with this, which I’m not sure is a very good idea, everything should be on the table,” Boehner said. Hoyer’s office sought to clarify the majority leader’s remarks today.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Gen. David Petraeus, Iraq commander Gen. Ray Odierno, and outgoing Afghanistan commander Gen. David McKiernan all reportedly opposed the release of the photos, which reportedly show mistreatment of detainees in locations other than the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.