Democrats try to cover for Pelosi on intel reports
Neither Politico or the NY Times included interview with Republicans about the allegations. I suspect there is disagreement on the assertions which seem calculated to get Pelosi off the hook for her claims against the CIA and/or the Bush administration. I still don't believe Pelosi and I doubt that whatever these allegations are, they relate to what she has implied.A letter released late Wednesday by six Democratic House members claims that Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta testified that "top CIA officials have concealed significant actions… and misled" members of Congress since 2001 — a claim the CIA is contesting.
The letter did not specify what actions were concealed, or how members of Congress were misled.
In it, the Democrats demanded that Panetta correct a statement he issued on May 15 – just after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of misleading her during the Bush years about the agency’s use of waterboarding techniques – stating that it is not the CIA’s “policy or practice to mislead Congress.”
CIA spokesman George Little told the Washington Independent late Wednesday, said the claim that Panetta admitted his agency has misled Congress is “completely wrong.” He added, “Director Panetta stands by his May 15 statement.”
The letter was signed on June 26 by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), John Tierney (D-Mass.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Jan Schakowsky (D- Ill.) – all of whom serve on the House Intelligence Committee.
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Pelosi's claim rings true when considered alongside other facts. For instance, the CIA's own inspector general has ALREADY found that the agency DOES INDEED lie to congress.
ReplyDelete"An internal CIA probe has concluded that agency officials deliberately misled Congress, the White House and federal prosecutors about key details of the 2001 downing of an airplane carrying U.S. missionaries in Peru, according to a senior lawmaker who called yesterday for a new criminal inquiry into the case."
Furthermore, it's not only Democrats and the agency's inspector general who have suggested lying by the agency. Here's what then Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R)had to say about the agency's lack of candor:
"We need to follow up as aggressively as we can . . We cannot have an intelligence community that covers up what it does and then lies to Congress."
And here's what then republican Senator Arlen Specter had to say about the agency's record on honesty:
"The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to -- I was about to say candid, that's too mild -- to honesty."
The record is clear. The agency's own IG says so; and two prominent republicans are on record saying so as well. The CIA simply can't be trusted to tell the truth to congress.