Pete King wants Pelosi to step down -- for a while

POLITICO.COM
May 20, 2009
Categories: House Republicans

Another outspoken member of the House GOP is joining the Dump Nancy movement.

Rep. Pete King -- the Long Island Republican who was one of the first in his party to call for Newt Gingrich's ouster a decade ago -- wants Nancy Pelosi to step aside temporarily pending an investigation of the waterboarding fiasco.

Unlike his namesake Steve King (R-Iowa), who called for Pelosi's permanent ouster -- King will accept an apology in exchange for her keeping the gig.

"She has to immediately retract what she said and apologize," said King referring to Pelosi's claim that CIA briefers misled her in a classified session on interrogation in Sept. 2002.

"If she doesn't, then she should voluntarily step aside on temporary basis until there's a full investigation of her comments about what she knew, when she knew it and who was there [in the briefing]," added King, who is mulling a run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) "If what she said is not true, it's a terrible slander against the leading intelligence service in the U.S at a time when we're fighting two wars."

King, the ranking Republican on the homeland security committee, said he had spoken to CIA agents who were upset by the speaker's remarks.

"It makes it impossible for her to function, and it makes it difficult for the men and women of the CIA in the field," he added.

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