Pelosi objects to exposure of her corrupt activities!

WASHINGTON (PNN) - November 14, 2011 - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi fired back Sunday at a CBS News' 60 Minutes report that highlighted several instances of what it suggested could be "soft corruption".

The show looked at the investments of various lawmakers - including Pelosi, House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama - who reportedly bought stocks around the same time legislation involving those investments was being discussed.

Pelosi and her husband participated in an initial public offering of Visa in 2008, according to CBS. They bought 5,000 shares at the initial price of $44; two days later, shares were trading at $64, CBS said.

The network reported the investment came at the same time a piece of legislation that was opposed by credit-card companies was making its way through the House.

"Congress has never done more for consumers nor has the Congress passed more critical reforms of the credit card industry than under the Speakership of Nancy Pelosi," Pelosi spokesman, Drew Hammill, said in a statement soon after the report aired Sunday night.

"It is very troubling that 60 Minutes would base their reporting off of an already-discredited conservative author who has made a career of out attacking Democrats," he added.

CBS said it used as a starting point for its story the research of Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University.

About a year ago, he began work on a book about "soft corruption" in Washington, CBS reported. The network said it had independently verified the material it used.

Pelosi's spokesman criticized the CBS story for failing to note that the "legislation in question was reported out of the Judiciary Committee on October 3, 2008 - the day the House was consumed in passing TARP and also the last day the House was in session before the November election."

It also failed to note that in September 2008, the House passed the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, Hammill said.

"In the next Congress, the House and Senate passed and (illegitimate) President Obama signed the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights and the Dodd-Frank legislation, which included a stronger, more direct approach to addressing swipe fees," the spokesman said.

In addition to Pelosi, the CBS report took a look at the investments of of Bachus and Boehner.