Crazy Pete Hoekstra Is a Big Fat* Demogoging Liar
Since Crazy Pete is out demagoging the Fort Hood killings, I thought I would put together a list of his most notable lies to serve as a reminder to journalists that they ought to think twice before crediting anything Crazy Pete says. So here goes: six of Crazy Pete’s classic lies:
Nancy Pelosi lied when she said the CIA didn’t tell her they had waterboarded Abu Zubaydah
It was clear from the start that this was a lie, given that Porter Goss’ statements about the September 2002 briefing accorded perfectly with Pelosi’s assertions about that briefing. And when pressed, Goss refused to alter that statement even after Hoekstra’s attacks on Pelosi. But in a recent uncontroverted statement, the House Intelligence Committee confirmed that the CIA had lied to Pelosi (and Goss) in that first briefing.
Seven CIA Directors claimed Obama was hurting CIA morale with the investigation into torture
In an op-ed invoking the letter seven CIA Directors had sent, Crazy Pete (and John Shadegg) pretended to quote from the latter:
[The letter from the CIA Directors] noted the “distraction and devastating impact” that reopening an investigation into enhanced interrogation of al Qaeda suspects is having on “CIA morale, America’s counterterrorism efforts and our foreign intelligence partnerships.”
But they appear to have just made those quotes up out of thin air. In the grand scheme of Crazy Pete’s long catalog of lies, this partisan attack might not be that big–except that I’m stunned two sitting Congressmen would just make shit up and claim a bunch of retired Spooks-in-Chief had said them.
Eureka!!! WMD in Iraq!!!
Remember when Crazy Pete and Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum claimed that a few piles of canisters filled with now-inert chemical weapons were the WMDs we went to war to find?
Yeah.
I’d just leave it at that–but it bears mentioning that the pattern of the demagoging is the same as Crazy Pete is employing now: claiming that the intelligence community is not being forthcoming with secret information that Crazy Pete has been privy to, and if they only would reveal what they know, Crazy Pete would score political points. In other words, we’ve heard precisely the kinds of claims Crazy Pete is making now before–and in the past those claims proved to be bullshit.
CIA didn’t reveal those expired munitions because key CIA officials want to help Al Qaeda [update]
As Spencer notes below, shortly after Crazy Pete trumpeted his inert chemical find, he upped the ante, suggesting that certain people within the intelligence community want to help al Qaeda. Crazy Pete wouldn’t name those al Qaeda sympathizers, but thought it important to make the claim nevertheless, explaining it is simply naive to not make the claim, even if there is no evidence to substantiate it.
Al Qaeda will kill unemployed Michiganders if Gitmo prisoners move to Standish
In his efforts to scare the people of Standish, MI, out of hosting Gitmo’s prisoners, Crazy Pete claimed both that Al Qaeda would target the families of those working at Standish and that none of the jobs at Standish would go to locals–they would instead go to military personnel. Now, either of those might have been true–but Crazy Pete was just making stuff up. I know that, because at the time Crazy Pete was making these claims, even Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin did not know the hypothetical plan for Standish. Which Crazy Pete pretty much conceded in his next stunt about Gitmo, when he had a resident from Standish testify at a House Intelligence Committee hearing to highlight the fact that no one knew what was going to happen if Gitmo moved to Standish. There’s more to Crazy Pete’s demagoging on Standish–as a bunch of retired counter-terrorism officers laid out in a scathing letter.
Democrats would require individual warrants to wiretap foreigners overseas
Ah, the Joe Klein embarrassment! The time when Crazy Pete told Joe Klein something that clearly contradicted public documents, and Klein printed it unquestioningly. Not only is this Crazy Pete lie one of his most classic, it also ties very closely the demagoging he’s doing now: he is claiming our domestic surveillance (rather than our personnel management) is insufficient at a time when bills affecting domestic surveillance are working their way through Congress. In 2007, we know, Crazy Pete was willing to make shit up to try to support more intrusive domestic spying powers. I would suggest he may be doing the same today.
Now, I’m not saying that Crazy Pete’s current demagoging may not have merit (though the silence from Crazy Pete’s counterpart in the Senate, Kit Bond, sort of makes me very very skeptical). After all, it’s nut-collecting season here in Michigan, and every day I see the dumbest looking squirrels manage to find a nut or two.
But Crazy Pete’s history of making audacious lies ought to make every single journalist question his claims, wait, ask for further proof, before they print any of his partisan, authoritarian claims.
*Crazy Pete is in no way physically fat. In fact, he spends a good deal of time cycling around Western Michigan. By “fat liar,” I’m referring to the size and audaciousness of his lies.
There remains an issue of crazy pete releasing “information” that very few are privy to on his own.
Would that not be treasonous, by itself?
Only if the information were actually true. I’m thinking he’s in no danger of an indictment there.
And the journalists ARE questioning him. Unfortunately, so few journalists work for the major papers anymore that unless you hang out at the Wheelhouse or similar places, you won’t hear any of the questions.
Boxturtle (We’ll run it just as you wrote it, Senator. Will you be at our mixer?)
Ooh! Oohh! Can I add my favorite? The time when Petey-Pete said that CIA was leaking material damaging to the Bush administration to “help al-Qaeda”! I reported on it for TNR:
Hmm, so it’s naive to “rule out the possibility” that those who leak classified info do so to “help al-Qaeda,” eh…?
Ah, good one. Added to the post. I guess it would be “naive” for us not to suggest Crazy Pete’s leaks about Awlaki’s taps make him the real al Qaeda sympathizer, huh?
So Prince and Hoekstra could be arrested today. Wow,would have to pinch myself if it happened.
Boy, would love to add whoever paid out for the forged documents a while back…
The can’t arrest Prince without opening up the “Bush Box” that ObamaCo wants so desperately to stay closed.
Prince could tell exactly what he was ordered to do, rather the sweeping generalization of “security contracts”. I suspect that he could give testimony that would convict Bush of war crimes if he ever testified completely.
Thus, Prince is safe no matter what he did.
You’d think that finding krisy kreme’s on the counter that weren’t there when I went to bed would help my cynicism.
Boxturtle (They didn’t help my diet, either)
Hey BoxTurtle,
Not fair. I was dreaming of a happy day
of imagined possibilities. I needed that because I did not wake up to a box of Krispy Kreme’s like you did! Faux joy robber! /s
If it makes you feel any better, I awoke today to face the pleasure of having to absorb an $8K or so hit as my 30 year old furnace died yesterday. The workers have removed the old units and are doing the sheet metal for the never one. I can’t turn REM up high enough to cover the noise, even the cats can’t sleep!
Boxturtle (Recommended: Stevenson Heating and AirConditioning, if you’re in Ohio)
OT breaking news: McCain joins the “booga booga there’s Mooslums in the military” parade.
And where were McCain and Hoekstra to scream terror with these acts? The problem with screaming terror and couching this violence as terror until more facts are known, is that if there is a mental health concern that may need a broader airing to reduce US Base violence, the chance has now been lost.
Sorry about your furnace. Enjoy the heck out of those Krispy Kremes with such news. We also recommend All Star if you live in Columbus, Lancaster, Circleville or New Lexington, Ohio. We had Stevenson come and clean out ducts. They were very nice and professional.
I read your word as “Mooselums” and thought you were refering to Palin supporters. I’d be worried about THOSE people in the military.
Boxturtle (Going to have lunch with some scary brown people. Mexican Steelers fans!)
Of course there are Muslims in the army, navy, air force and marines. They have “chaplains” for them, too. There is a Muslim in Congress and there are Muslims in the State Department and the Pentagon, the NBA and the FBI.
The idea that being Muslim is a terrorist act or that it inescapably leads to aiding and abetting – or the execrable “providing material support” for – terrorists is hate speech. It should be denounced as such, whether in the House or Senate, on Fox Noise or in the New York Times. Where coupled with a crime, the crime should be regarded as a hate crime.
If the actions of one man or a small group are sufficient to denounce an entire religion, then the FBI would be rounding up a lot of Protestants, Catholics and Jews, too, and Joe Lieberman’s new job would be as Inquisitor-in-Chief.
Well, he is talking about Un-American Activities Hearings Part Deux, so he may already have accepted that position.
Agree wholeheartedly that all this talk about the “nature of Muslims” is hate speech. As Mary’s example illustrates, it’s easy enough to see when you simply replace “Christian” for “Muslim” in any scenario.
And klynn, great point about how this distracts from problems in the military and with some returning soldiers. They desperately, urgently need our help, and this would be a good time to be talking about it, but as Atrios says “Our discourse is so stupid.” Look over there, Jihad!
The essence of hypocrisy – during the “Nancy Pelosi lied”, Crazy Pete was accusing the spooks of lying about the shoot down of a plane thought to be carrying drug smugglers when actually the plane was carrying US aid volunteers. So the CIA only lies to Crazy Pete, lying to the Speaker was out of the realm of possibility.
It’s not a lie, but my favorite Hoekstra moment is when he released the documents of how to build a nuclear weapon on a public government website so the “Army of Davids” could help him prove that Iraq had nukes. This was days before the 2006 election. Keeping us safe!
Why is it that reading this story immediately made me think of Crazy Pete?
He’s gotta have the biggest armor case ever…
Mornin Joe no likee you diss Pete!
ever get the feeling that about 70% of our government is dead weight?
Government? No.
Congressional Republicans? Abolutely
Maybe just maybe we should stop bombing, killing and torturing people in Muslim lands.
I know. CRAZY!
Pete Hoekstra should be in prison.
Unfortunately we have to many crazies in prison.
And a whole lot more that should be there though they now languish in Congress.
Oh, sure, if you’re gonna like start COUNTING and everything (eyeroll) …
Dang, remains one of my favorites, it still hurts laughing so loud. :)
He’s a whacko liar. And he’s crazy.
What does that make the people in his district that voted him in?
I hate all of these right wing crazy assholes as much as anybody, but when do we call out the people that give them their power? Yesterday it was Pat Robertson. If millions of stupid idiots didn’t watch his teevee show and send him their cash, Pat Robertson would be a nobody.
If the fucking people of this country don’t use their heads and think, then they deserve everything they’re getting. IMO.
well up
Hoekstra…the genius that decided to but up 10,000 Arabic-language documents captured in the Iraq War on an open website so that “Saddam’s evidence of WMD’s or al Qaida links can be discovered”.
Two documents, which had earlier been made available to both the US and the UN after the Gulf War I, actually detailed the construction of a nuclear weapon and the recipes for nerve gas. But the US had known about these for ten years and there was no evidence ever discovered that Saddam continued these programs.
But Hoekstra claiming that “Saddam might give plans of WMD’s to terrorists” actually enabled Arabic-speaking terrorists to obtain plans that Saddam never did!
And yet has he ever suffered any punishment for any of this idiocy? Only our country has, as oversight has no doubt suffered due to his making the “can’t trust Congress” argument over and over.
Demagoguing. Please note the correct spelling.
Hey, EW
Great news: Rachel Maddow was all over this on her show. She even credited Spencer Ackerman on the “Al Qaida sympathisers in the IC” thing.
YAY!
I feel like those Windoze7 commercials “It was MY IDEA”
Oh and she reminded everyone that you can email the show–they read ’em.
FWDiva
To any rational person, it is not believable that Pelosi did not understand what the briefing meant. And, certainly, the general public pretty well knew not a long time after that that a few of the detainees were being waterboarded. I’m John Q Citizen and I certainly had no doubt it was happening at least by 2004 (meaning I was aware of it during a time period before 2004). I didn’t see documentation of it, but the word on the street was pretty strong, srong enough that I felt certain it was occuring. I don’t know how Pelosi can say that she didn’t know or strongly suspect it long before she became indignant about it and long before it became politically difficult to have known about it is not believable.
I certainly could be wrong. Maybe she raised hell about trying to confirm that the general knowledge out in the land in 2004 or earlier that this was happening was true and tried to stop it or raise public awareness that something she disagreed with was taking place. I am not aware of any such public stands or trouble making.
The rumors were certainly strong enough that a minority leader violently opposed to it would have checked it out thoroughly and not accepted a pat answer if given.
And, she SHOULD have been raising hell at least by 2004.. Not just asking questions.
The odd thing is that Democrats have amnesia about being told and the GOP members seem to remember it pretty well.
It was CYA all the way.
Rational because you heard innuendo on the street and that gave you feelings. Right.
By the way, I don’t disagree generally with your characterization of Pete.
As we all know, the innuendo, rumors what ever you want to call them, were true. And, I think a lot of people sensed they were true.
There was enough of that going on that I would think that any Rep. strongly opposed to waterboarding would or at least should, have raised hell about it. I really don’t know many people who did not strongly suspect it was happening.
Let’s just put it this way Hmmm, if you had the position of a Congressman at the time, would YOU have just sat around and did nothing and asked no questions?
To me, it is like one of those ‘born yesterday’ situations that Pelosi asks everyone to believe. Me, I’m not buying.
Yeah, the CIA might have played it fast and loose on some briefings, but Pelosi must think we are pretty stupid to believe she didn’t have strong enough and specific enough (maybe not nailed down tight, but enough) knowledge or sense of what was going on. Enough that someone who actually was objecting would have raised a lot of hell about it.
She got caught and is only trying to CYA. Which is totally understandable.
Actually, if the CIA told Pelosi that they didn’t torture, then they lied. Period. If Pelosi said the CIA lied, a day, a month, a year, or years later, then the CIA lied and Pelosi told the truth. Maybe she should have suspected the truth, that the CIA tortured, but that does not alter the fact that the CIA lied to our Congressional Reps in 2002, 2003, 2004. . . and so on.
How is a (then minority party) congressional rep supposed to figure out the truth? Listen to the word on the street? I don’t think that holds up before congress, let alone before any kind of judge. Instigate a ‘fact finding mission’ ? Um, Congressman Leo Ryan comes to mind (Jim Jones’ People’s Temple killed him). And one must bear in mind that the briefings by the CIA were not up for discussion or scrutiny – no talking to your aids, lawyers, whatever was allowed – hence we have Jello Jay writing sternly worded letters to his safe for posterity in lieu of a real investigation. What was Pelosi supposed to do?
Somebody let Sibel Edmonds straighten us all out.