{"id":2203,"date":"2009-05-15T16:05:44","date_gmt":"2009-05-15T20:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2203"},"modified":"2009-05-15T16:33:19","modified_gmt":"2009-05-15T20:33:19","slug":"leon-panetta-angency-briefed-lawmakers-truthfully-in-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/15\/leon-panetta-angency-briefed-lawmakers-truthfully-in-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"Leon Panetta: Angency Briefed Lawmakers Truthfully in 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CIA Director Leon Panetta today released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/news-information\/press-releases-statements\/message-from-the-director-turning-down-the-volume.html\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> defending his agency from charges that it mislead mmeber of Congress:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I\u2019m gone. But the political debates about interrogation reached a new decibel level yesterday when the CIA was accused of misleading Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing \u201cthe enhanced techniques that had been employed.\u201d Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened.<\/p>\n<p>My advice\u2014indeed, my direction\u2014to you is straightforward: ignore the noise and stay focused on your mission. We have too much work to do to be distracted from our job of protecting this country.<\/p>\n<p>We are an Agency of high integrity, professionalism, and dedication. Our task is to tell it like it is\u2014even if that\u2019s not what people always want to hear. Keep it up. Our national security depends on it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The bottom line here is this no longer a partisan issue&#8230; Republicans are calling her a liar and now, by implication, so is the White House. Speaker Pelosi has painted Democrats into a corner and she very well end up being sacrificed for the good of the party.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/a-2017611~Analysis__Democrats__risky_focus_on_torture.html\" target=\"_blank\">Analysis: Democrats&#8217; risky focus on torture<\/a> &#8211; Examiner.com<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB124239332960723299.html\" target=\"_blank\">Panetta Defends CIA Briefing<\/a> &#8211; Wall Street Journal<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2009\/may\/15\/pelosi-admits-waterboard-briefing\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pelosi admits waterboard briefing<\/a> &#8211; Washington Times<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/05\/14\/AR2009051404240.html\" target=\"_blank\">Speaker&#8217;s Comments Raise Detainee Debate to New Level<\/a> &#8211; Washington Post<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/05\/14\/AR2009051403991.html\" target=\"_blank\">Pelosi&#8217;s Fancy Footwork<\/a> &#8211; Dana Milbank<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.abcnews.com\/thenote\/2009\/05\/gingrich-pelosi.html\" target=\"_blank\">Gingrich: Pelosi &#8216;Lied,&#8217; &#8216;Despicable,&#8217; &#8216;Dishonest,&#8217; &#8216;Vicious,&#8217; &#8216;Trivial&#8217;<\/a> &#8211; The Note, ABC News.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newmajority.com\/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=b92fec52-d14c-4aa4-83bd-c714cdf82b54\" target=\"_blank\">The CIA Replies: It is Pelosi Who is Lying<\/a> &#8211; NewMajority.com<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/hotair.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/15\/video-kit-bond-says-cia-doesnt-brief-on-rejected-techniques\/\" target=\"_blank\">Video: Kit Bond says CIA doesn\u2019t brief on rejected techniques<\/a> &#8211; Hot Air<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CIA Director Leon Panetta today released a statement defending his agency from charges that it mislead mmeber of Congress: There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I\u2019m gone. But the political debates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,193],"tags":[628,663,668,131,1373,645],"class_list":{"0":"post-2203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-politics","7":"category-war-on-terror","8":"tag-cia","9":"tag-enhanced-interrogations-techniques","10":"tag-leon-panetta","11":"tag-nancy-pelosi","12":"tag-war-on-terror","13":"tag-waterboarding","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-zx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2499,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/10\/about-that-alleged-cia-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":0},"title":"About that Alleged CIA &#8216;Lie&#8217;","author":"Jeff","date":"July 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Wall Street Journal: As political spectacles go, one would be hard pressed to find anything as ridiculous as the Washington Romper Room now starring Congressional Democrats and the CIA. If only the consequences weren't potentially so damaging for national security. The latest episode comes courtesy of Silvestre Reyes,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2629,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/19\/leon-panetta-idiot\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":1},"title":"Leon Panetta: Idiot","author":"Jeff","date":"August 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember that whole Nancy Pelosi, the CIA lied to Congress brouhaha? Turns out Leon Panetta's an idiot... Joseph Finder at the Daily Beast has the details: CIA Director Leon Panetta\u2019s emergency testimony to Congress about an illegal assassination program has set off a crisis at the spy agency. The Daily\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2142,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/08\/cia-says-pelosi-was-briefed-on-use-of-enhanced-interrogations\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":2},"title":"CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of &#8216;Enhanced Interrogations&#8217;","author":"Jeff","date":"May 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Washington Post and ABC News are reporting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on Enhanced Interrogations Techniques and their use on on Abu Zubaydah. From the Washington Post: Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2188,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/14\/joe-lieberman-i-totally-disagree-with-pelosi-assertion-that-cia-lies\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":3},"title":"Joe Lieberman: &#8216;I Totally Disagree&#8217; With Pelosi Assertion that CIA Lies","author":"Jeff","date":"May 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I disagree with Joe Lieberman on a lot of things but I like him and I respect him... and this is an example of why: MSNBC\u2019s Norah O\u2019Donnell: \u201cSpeaker Pelosi came out today and essentially when asked if the CIA is lying, she said, \u2018they mislead us all the time.\u2019\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2154,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/11\/top-pelosi-aide-briefed-on-enhanced-interrogations-in-2003\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":4},"title":"Top Pelosi Aide Briefed on Enhanced Interrogations in 2003","author":"Jeff","date":"May 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Washington Post on Saturday reported that a top aide to Nancy Pleosi attended a briefing CIA briefing on Enhanced Interrogations, including waterboarding in 2003: A top aide to \u00a0House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2218,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/17\/association-of-former-intelligence-officers-responds-to-nancy-pelosi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2203,"position":5},"title":"Association of Former Intelligence Officers Responds to Nancy Pelosi","author":"Jeff","date":"May 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Gene Poteat, president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, offers the following statement on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that the CIA lied to her in their briefings: Those CIA officers chosen to brief the Congress, and especially the intelligence committees, are very senior, experienced officers, who well know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}