Former White House Flack Misremembers Administration 'Not Torture' Policy

Dana Perino, former White House public relations spokesperson, got tripped up this week on CBS.

Asked about the controversy involving the Bush Administration's interrogation policies, Perino hemmed and hawed, conveniently forgetting her own statements on behalf of the White House.

Here's a sample of Perino's double-talk, courtesy of Think Progress:

PERINO: What more is there to investigate? Unless they are on a political witch hunt. ... Look, none of us want to talk about interrogation techniques. They are unpleasant for a reason --

Q: Well, they are not just unpleasant. Do you believe waterboarding is torture?

PERINO: I have never answered that question because I don't know what I would have done in that situation, if I had to protect thousands of lives.

Think Progress comments: Except Perino has weighed in on the issue, and all indications are that she has said that waterboarding is not torture. When repeatedly pressed by reporters on whether the Bush administration tortured, Perino consistently and robotically responded, "We do not torture." She uttered the phrase until the very end of her tenure, well after the CIA publicly admitted in February 2008 to waterboarding three detainees:

-- "Let me just make sure it's clear, and I'll say it on the record one more time, that it has never been the policy of this President or this administration to torture." 1/14/09

-- "We did not torture." 11/18/08

-- "The United States has not, is not torturing any detainees in the global war on terror." 4/23/08