On the May 8 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, purporting to quote from a recently released Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document, host Chris Matthews falsely asserted that the document stated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was briefed on the “use of waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah.” In fact, the document, which details “Member Briefings on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs),” stated only that during a September 4, 2002, briefing, Pelosi was briefed “on EITs including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah [emphasis added].”

Matthews said that Pelosi “got a briefing on, quote, 'enhanced intelligence techniques, including the use of waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah, the background on authorities, and a description of the particular enhanced interrogation techniques that were employed.' ” Matthews then added, “So, she got it all.” In fact, the document -- which was displayed on screen during the discussion -- did not state that Pelosi was briefed on “the use of waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah,” but only that the briefing included the “use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah.” From the May 8 edition of Hardball:

In a May 8 post to his Washington Post Co. blog, Greg Sargent reported that a CIA spokesperson confirmed to him that "[n]one of the notes and memos that the CIA is aware of about the briefing Nancy Pelosi got on torture specified that she'd been briefed on the use of waterboarding." Sargent further reported:

In the newly-released documents detailing the torture briefings given to members of Congress, the portion describing Pelosi's single briefing says she was told about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in general, but doesn't specify whether she was told about the use of waterboarding. That was specified about some briefings given to others.

I asked CIA spokesperson Paul Gimigliano why. His answer: Because the notes and memos on the Pelosi meeting that form the basis for the docs didn't allow them to go that far, meaning that they didn't specify that she'd been briefed on waterboarding in particular.

Sargent also posted the following statement from Gimigliano:

“The language in the chart -- 'a description of the particular EITs that had been employed' -- is faithful to the language in the records. Nothing is being hidden or hyped. If other people want to try to guess or interpret what the words 'a description of the particular EITs that had been employed' may or may not mean, they're free to do so. CIA is simply being true to the records. That's all there is to it.”

From the May 8 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Let's take a look at this issue now. We have an issue facing us. Cillizza, you're first -- this is tough. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, has been sort of caught, depending on how you read some of these reports. They put out reports from the intelligence community that she was -- it's a new CIA document that shows that on September 4th of 2002 -- that's way back when -- Nancy Pelosi and Porter Goss -- now she was ranking Democrat, he was chair of intelligence -- got a briefing on, quote, “enhanced intelligence techniques, including the use of waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah, the background on authorities, and a description of the particular enhanced interrogation techniques that were employed.” So, she got it all.

It's important to note that, of course, this is recently declassified Justice Department memo -- said that the CIA waterboarding of Zubaydah at least 83 times during August of 2002. That's a month before Pelosi got briefed. What do you make of that, Cillizza? It looks to me like, at least, in a splashing sense, people begin to believe now that she was warned that we were using those kind of techniques.

CHRIS CILLIZZA (Washington Post reporter): Chris, here's -- I was confused to be totally honest with you, so I called and talked to her office right before we came on to try and clarify. Here is what they say. They say essentially that, yes, she did get this briefing. She was told that these were the sort of enhanced interrogation techniques that could be used, had not yet been used, and that they were legal. That was it. She later in February of 2003, she was --

MATTHEWS: Did she object? Did she say that she object to their use?

CILLIZZA: That was not part of what they told me, so I'm going to answer you, no, Chris. But I think the distinction they are drawing is the difference between knowing about the possibility they will be used and then actually being used.

MATTHEWS: Well, this is where --

CILLIZZA: That's their difference, but I'm just letting you know that's where they're coming from.

MATTHEWS: Fair enough. We spent a lot of time, the producers and I, trying to figure this out before we came on tonight, but here the problem is. The CIA was using waterboarding in the month or two before this briefing. They'd used it 83 times. So either they told her erroneously that they hadn't used it yet or they did tell her they had been using it, and one of these two people is lying.