Thursday, July 9, 2009

CIA to Congress: We Misled You, but That's Not Our Policy

Some strange things are going on between Congress and the CIA:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/08/cia.congress/index.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-us-congress-secret-briefings,1,2711337.story

Letters by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and other members of the panel say CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.

I am upset that rather than focusing on stopping the CIA from misleading Congress in the future, the media and House Republicans are making this an issue about Pelosi. I think Senator Pelosi knew about harsh interrogation methods, but not all the details. I do wonder if she knew about waterboarding, but it doesn't matter now--she had her chance to speak out against harsh interrogation methods and failed to do so. The real issue now is reforming the CIA, not Pelosi.

Update on July 20, 2009: Judge rules CIA lied to the court:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090720/ap_on_go_ot/us_cia_fraud

According to court documents unsealed Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth referred a CIA attorney, Jeffrey Yeates, for disciplinary action. Lamberth also denied the CIA's renewed efforts under the Obama administration to keep the case secret because of what he calls the agency's "diminished credibility" in the case.

No comments: