Panetta orders internal probe of secret spy program after...Congress says CIA misled them.

[babylonsister]

Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff
Watch Who You’re Calling a Liar

Panetta orders internal probe of secret spy program after some members of Congress say CIA misled them.
Jul 9, 2009


CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency's handling of a contentious and still highly classified intelligence program that has caused a heated dispute between the CIA and Democrats on the House intelligence committee. The move by Panetta appears to be an implicit acknowledgment by the agency that it should have disclosed information about the post-9/11 secret program to Congress much earlier than it did.

The internal CIA probe was described by an official with first-hand knowledge as a review by a senior agency officer--rather than a formal investigation by the inspector general's office. The senior officer is not connected with the National Clandestine Service, the CIA branch whose actions are under scrutiny, according to the official who is familiar with the inquiry.

CIA and congressional officials have refused to describe the nature of the covert program, but insisted it is not connected to the CIA's use of controversial "enhanced" interrogation techniques. But the program's existence erupted into a major political dispute Wednesday night when seven Democrats on the House intelligence committee released a letter charging that the agency had "concealed significant actions" and "misled" members of Congress by failing to inform the oversight committees about the program until last month. The Democrats demanded that Panetta "publicly correct" his statement of May 15 declaring that "it is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress."

Paul Gimigliano, a CIA spokesman, said Panetta has nothing to correct: "Director Panetta took the initiative to raise the issue with the Hill. He did so promptly and clearly, as the oversight committees themselves recognize. He stands by his statement that it is neither the policy nor the practice of the CIA to mislead Congress. He believes, as his actions show, in the importance of a candid dialogue with Congress."

One question Congressional Democrats still want answered: was the program an idea CIA officials had just talked about as a possibility, or had they actually put it into operation? If it was just talk, as some in the intelligence community insist, the argument could be made that there was no requirement to notify Congress. "This program came in post-9/11, and it was indeed on-again, off-again," the official said. "You could argue that it never really took shape." The implication is that whatever the details of the program, it carried risks that some officials at the agency strongly felt might not be worth taking.

more...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/205958

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. I wish they could have done this under Reagan and his Iran contras

that would have unleashed something

[rucky]

2. The CIA is going to investigate themselves about lying to Congress...

then present their findings to Congress.

:rofl:

[Maccagirl]

3. Yawn-I'll wait for the "report".

Nah-I won't bother spending one minute reading their lies.

[spanone]

4. the fox guarding the henhouse

mmmmm....let me guess their findings?

[Subdivisions]

5. That should clear it all up. n/t