Gingrich calls on Pelosi to resign

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that current Speaker Nancy Pelosi should resign, saying the California Democrat had destroyed her credibility by saying the CIA has repeatedly misled Congress.

“The speaker is third in line to be president. She has a unique responsibility to national security,” Gingrich said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“What she said Thursday was a stunning, dishonest statement about a major American institution,” he said. Gingrich noted that it is a crime to lie to Congress and said Pelosi’s comments made her unfit to hold the speaker’s position.

The Georgia Republican was echoing comments he made on Joe Scarborough’s radio talk show.

“This is not like an average member, this is not some back-bencher who’s allowed to, you know, say dumb things,” Gingrich said Monday. “This person, the speaker of the House, has access to the nation’s secrets.”

Gingrich’s comments were the latest in a series of salvos from Republicans on the issue.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said over the weekend that Pelosi “ought to either present the evidence or apologize.”

“Lying to the Congress of the United States is a crime,” Boehner said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” ”And if the speaker is accusing the CIA and other intelligence officials of lying or misleading the Congress, then she should come forward with evidence and turn that over to the Justice Department so they can be prosecuted.”

He added: “And if that’s not the case, I think she ought to apologize to our intelligence professionals around the world.”

Pelosi on Thursday accused the CIA of “misleading the Congress,” an assertion that CIA Director Leon Panetta, a former Democratic congressman from California, rebutted on Friday. But congressional Democrats have defended Pelosi.

White House aides have declined to comment on the matter. But Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a top Obama ally, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Pelosi “absolutely” has the support of other Democrats.

Pelosi has acknowledged in recent weeks she learned of the use of waterboarding from an aide who was briefed in 2003. But Pelosi says that by then she was no longer the senior Democrat on the intelligence committee and had little recourse to object to the tactics. The CIA says its records show Pelosi was briefed on the tactics in 2002, which the speaker has adamantly denied. She has asked that the CIA release the notes from that briefing, a request the agency has not granted.