(CNSNews.com) - When asked by CNSNews.com to comment on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) statement at her press conference last week that the CIA “misleads” Congress “all the time," two Democratic congressmen briskly walked away declining to answer. One of the two quickly returned to say that he believes in the speaker.

A third Democrat said he did know who was right on the question, but that he believes Pelosi is an effective leader.

Republicans were critical of Pelosi, with Rep. Trent Franks (R.-Ariz.) saying he thinks Pelosi should resign if the facts show she did not tell the truth about the CIA.



Rep. Sander M. Levin (D.-Mich.), initially declined to comment and walked swiftly away, but then he stopped, turned around, and walked back to say he “believes” in the speaker.

When asked whether he agrees with Speaker Pelosi that the CIA misleads Congress, Levin said: “Nancy Pelosi felt that she had been misled by the CIA and I believe in the Speaker."

Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) walked away saying he would not comment as soon as CNSNews.com said it wanted to ask him about Pelosi's press conference of last week where she made the comments about the CIA.

Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) said he did not see Pelosi’s May 14 press conference.


 
“I don’t have any first-hand knowledge or any expertise,” Minnick told CNSNews.com.  “I didn’t either attend or see the press conference, so I think--all I know is news accounts and I don’t know who’s right on it. I do know the speaker is a pretty effective leader and it appears to be a distraction that, hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of and we’ll get on with business.”

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), among the three Republicans that CNSNews.com interviewed, said that if the facts show Pelosi did not tell the truth about a September 2002 briefing she received from the CIA about interrogation techniques used against captured al Qaeda terrorists, then she should resign as speaker.

"If the briefing notes clearly indicate that she deliberately lied, yes, I think she should resign or, at the very least, have an open public apology to the CIA,” said Franks.

He also said that time will be “favorable” to the CIA in this situation.

“The committee hearings I’ve sat in--whether their closed hearings or classified or open hearings--the CIA and the NSA, in my judgment, have been incredibly forthright, often times speaking of things that they might think may not be to their advantage, but in the interest of clarity and accuracy, they’ve, in my judgment, been very forthright,” Franks told CNSNews.com.


 
“So, I think the Speaker’s got that dead wrong and it’s too bad we diminish this as a non-issue because here we have the Speaker of the House, the third in line to the presidency, saying that the CIA is lying to Congress. That’s a felony for them to do that. We need to know which one is lying because our entire national security apparatus is really at stake here and I think time will probably be favorable to the CIA in this case.”


 
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) disagreed with Pelosi.

 
“I don’t think the CIA has misled Congress,” he told CNSNews.com.  “I think they’ve fulfilled their requirements under the law. I think, over a period of time, people forget. There’s a state of mind at a time during crisis and, frankly, you know, it’s very easy for people to re-discover a new memory years later under a totally different situation. I think pointing fingers at the CIA is inappropriate at this time.”


 
Rep. Philip Roe (R-Tenn.), a freshman congressman, said it’s understandable that a government agency like the CIA could be wrong but he does not believe they would deliberately lie.

 
“I think that would be so foolish to have an agency of government that’s accountable to come up and deliberately mislead the Congress,” said Roe. “These are bright people up here and they’re going to see through it in a minute. We have to have some credibility.”
 
“Look, when they bring you information, they can be wrong -- anybody can be,” said Roe. “I’m a physician. I’ve been wrong before in my diagnosis but to deliberately come up and mislead the Congress time after time – that’s – I don’t  believe that.”


 
Roe was hesitant to say whether Pelosi should resign if the facts prove her accusations false.


 
“I will simply say I think she will continue to serve as Speaker,” Roe told CNSNews.com.  “I’ll leave the answer at that.”