Pelosi: 'I stand by my lies'

By Rick Moran

Well, you have to give her credit - for something. What, I don't know. But it takes a lot of moxie to look straight into a camera and declare that you stand by statements that are demonstrable lies.

So goes Nancy Pelosi. Fox News has a report on a very strange press conference, where the Dem leadership appeared with Pelosi but never backed her statement about the CIA lying to her:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she stood by her statement last week in which she accused the CIA of lying to Congress about Bush-era interrogation methods, but then refused to make any more remarks on the topic.

In her first public comments since her accusation last week, Pelosi attempted to tamp down a story that she fueled and now Republicans say she either has to prove or apologize for.

"I have made the statement that I'm going to make on this. I don't have any more to say on this," she said at her weekly news conference. "I stand by my comments. And what we are doing is staying on our course and not being distracted from it."

Pelosi brought backup with her: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and other members of the Democratic leadership flanked her but none of them dared touch the CIA controversy. Instead they took turns talking about every issue under the sun -- the economy, health care, energy policy, credit cards -- except Pelosi's allegations.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is still on the attack:

"Speaker Pelosi stammered and filibustered around the elephant in the room because she knows full well that she has become a political liability to her fellow Democrats in Congress," NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said in a statement.

"Her obsession with the previous administration and her disdain for America's intelligence officials has reduced her to cheerleader status within the far left wing of her party and a distraction to the substantive debate over how to best move our economy forward," he added.

All the GOP can do at this point is keep fanning the flames, and try to keep the story alive for as long as possible. Watch the Sunday shows to see if the press still smells blood in the water. No doubt, Republican guests will try and steer the conversation toward Pelosi's lies just to watch the Dems squirm.

What the GOP needs now are some more leaks from the CIA. And if Pelosi is going to keep insisting that they're a bunch of liars, that may very well happen.