Official Pelosi photo doctored to add in missing Congresswomen

An official photo of women of the House Democratic Caucus distributed by the office of Nancy Pelosi was apparently doctored to include four Congresswomen who were not present when the photo was taken.

At the very back of the group of 61 women, four stood out--Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Corrine Brown (Fla.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Tex.), and Yvette Clarke (N.Y.)--as having been obviously added in later.

Pelosi admitted they had been added by computer program, but defended the decision to add the four members in after the fact at a news conference Friday.

"It’s an accurate historical record of who the Democratic women of Congress are," Pelosi said. "It also is an accurate record that it was freezing cold and our members had been waiting a long time for everyone to arrive and that they had to get back into the building to greet constituents, family members, to get ready to go to the floor."

White House News Photographers Association President Ron Sachs said this manipulation now brings "into question the integrity of photos released by our government."

An official photo distributed by U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's was missing four of the 61 congresswomen so the four were added to the official portrait with Pelosi, on January 3, 2013, it was discovered on January 4, 2013 in Washington, DC. In this combo photo, the four women added can be seen on the top of the right photo. At left is the UPI photo of the same scene on the steps of the U.S. Capitol that does not show the four congresswomen. White House News Photographers Association President Ron Sachs said this manipulation now brings "into question the integrity of photos released by our government." UPI

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