Democrats Say Panetta Admits CIA Misled Them

[incarcerated]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1247...googlenews_wsj


Democrats Say Panetta Admits CIA Misled Them

JULY 9, 2009
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON -- Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that the agency "concealed significant actions" from Congress, according to a letter released Wednesday from seven Democratic lawmakers.

The letter also contends that Mr. Panetta said CIA officials have misled Congress since 2001.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes sent a separate letter on Tuesday to the top Republican on his committee saying that Mr. Panetta's appearance led him to conclude that the CIA had "affirmatively lied" to the committee. Mr. Reyes, a Texas Democrat, said the issues Mr. Panetta disclosed to the committee may lead to a full committee investigation.

"I believe that CIA has, in the vast majority of matters, told the truth," Mr. Reyes said in a statement. "But in rare instances, certain officers have not adhered to the high standards held, as a rule, by the CIA with respect to truthfulness in reporting."

Neither letter described the nature of the actions hidden....

[Richard]

A power struggle between Congress' desire for expanded intelligence oversight and the White House's continued support of more limited briefings - combined with typical election year grandstanding = more fuel for the bonfires of conspiracy theories, the BIG BROTHER crowd, and reporters who dream of becoming the next Sheehan, Woodward and Bernstein.

Richard's $.02

[dirtyshirt]

I hate our elected government officials (particularly Democrats tho).

Cant somebody take DNA from our founding fathers,clone them and then maybe they could straighten out our country again.

I am so tired of the finger pointing and baby games these "grown" people engage in. They all(dems) stick together to shift the blame so Pelosi doesnt look as inept and foolish as she is. I am not saying mis-information doesnt happen at times, but this is just an attempt by the democrats to justify Pelosi's statements and position of "gee, I diddnt know torture was going on,they mis-informed me"

[Box]

...so

Either Speaker Pelosi or Director Panetta knowingly decieved the US governement and in turn the US citizen base.
If by some strange chance Speaker Pelosi was in fact LIED to, then Mr Panetta should be quickly relieved of his duties in a very public way.

Someone needs to go under the bus !!!

[LarryW]

The longer I live the more I love my country, and the more I mistrust our elected officials...regardless of party. I pray for better but fear what it will take to improve the situation. Perhaps I'm just wringing my hands when I should be their wringing necks.

[greenberetTFS]

Cant somebody take DNA from our founding fathers,clone them and then maybe they could straighten out our country again./quote/dirtyshirt

That's a terrific idea....... It's really too bad it's not possible......

Big Teddy

[PRB]

Pretty sad when a political appointee gets spanked by the POTUS/ Dem Congress for supporting his own agency.
Sadder yet when he folds.

Originally Posted by LarryW

The longer I live the more I love my country, and the more I mistrust our elected officials...regardless of party. I pray for better but fear what it will take to improve the situation. Perhaps I'm just wringing my hands when I should be their wringing necks.

No forums post I have ever read has ever matched my own feelings on the matter more closely than this one. I could not agree with you more.

[Richard]

So the messenger has learned that lying by ommission is better than being the bearer of bad news to Congress? Wonder where they learned that bit of wisdom and who'll be the next victim.

Not a good sign when considering the organizational climate in regards to an institution's effectiveness.

Richard's $.02

[swpa19]

Someone needs to go under the bus !!!
__________________

Sadly, it will probably be someone that occupies the third or fourth rung from the top of the ladder.

The Pineapple Princess would fit nicely between the transmission and the driveshaft.

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by swpa19

Sadly, it will probably be someone that occupies the third or fourth rung from the top of the ladder.

The Pineapple Princess would fit nicely between the transmission and the driveshaft.

Amen to that brother..................

Big Teddy

[Richard]

FWIW - I'd admit the facts and take corrective action - but I would never apologize to the current Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Richard's $.02

CIA's Panetta Owes Pelosi an Admission and an Apology
John Nichols, The Nation, 10 Jul 2009

Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta owes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an apology -- or, at the very least, a clarification.

In May, when Republicans claimed she had been briefed in 2002 by the Central Intelligence Agency about the Bush-Cheney administration's torture regimen, Pelosi said: Pelosi accused the CIA of "misleading the Congress of the United States" for years.

CIA Director Leon Panetta denied the charge in blunt language.

"Let me be clear: It is not our practice or policy to mislead Congress," said Panetta. "That is against our laws and values."

That was a blunt statement.

Unfortunately, Panetta was wrong.

Now, he needs to be just as blunt in setting the record straight.

According to Friday's The Washington Post:

Four months after he was sworn in, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta learned of an intelligence program that had been hidden from Congress since 2001, a revelation that prompted him to immediately cancel the initiative and schedule a pair of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill.

The next day, June 24, Panetta informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the program and the action he had taken, according to Democratic and Republican members of the panels.

The program had not merely been hidden from Congress.

It was kept secret -- perhaps because it involved illegal spying on the American people -- as part of a deliberate plot to keep the House and Senate in the dark about a gross violation of the CIA's mission.

"Instructions were given not to brief Congress," explained Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, D-California.

In fairness to Panetta, he does not seem to be the bad guy here.

Piecing together what we now know, it appears that the director may have been lied to by CIA staffers.

After learning about the secret program, Panetta did shut it down.

Then he briefed key members of Congress.

He gets points for those moves.

But he now needs to make it clear that what he said in May was wrong.

Panetta does not have to beat himself up. He can explain that he was. himself, a victim.

But Panetta owes Pelosi, the Congress and the American people an admission that his statement of two months ago created a false and unfair impression.

He could say: "It was the policy of the CIA to mislead Congress."

He could say: "The CIA violated our laws and values."

Or Panetta could just keep things straight and simple and say: "The Speaker was right."

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebe...and_an_apology

[Pete]

"Panetta does not have to beat himself up. He can explain that he was. himself, a victim."

Yeap, the buck stops..............somewhere else.

[Surf n Turf]

Originally Posted by Richard

A power struggle between Congress' desire for expanded intelligence oversight and the White House's continued support of more limited briefings - combined with typical election year grandstanding = more fuel for the bonfires of conspiracy theories, the BIG BROTHER crowd, and reporters who dream of becoming the next Sheehan, Woodward and Bernstein.
Richard's $.02

As Richard said, this seems to be a turf battle between Congress and the WH over who is briefed. The congressional answer for oversite is “lets brief everyone”(and with their record of keeping secrets, why not ). The Obama White House is of a different view, and is threatening a veto if the legislation is over broad on who is briefed.

Keeping in context the sheer panic of Sept 11, 2001, it appears that the Bush administration pulled out all the stops, and started monitoring everything. From open source information, it appears that President Bush singed a single “finding” for all the activities.
It also appears this was an NSA program, not CIA. General Hayden maintains that he briefed members personally, and they were all supportive.
Link
Who will guard the guards --

SnT

[plato]

It sounds like the Dimocrats and the MSM are adding 2+2 and conveniently getting =5.

1. We briefed the legislature about waterboarding.

2. I discovered a very secret Agency program recently and shut it down.

I don't see that the second statement negates the first.

Or is my comprehension on the whack?