Panetta's First Speech as CIA Director to Come Amid Pelosi Controversy
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CIA Director Leon Panetta on Monday will deliver his first public speech since taking office.
The speech will occur at a California luncheon about global challenges, but he may have a tough time avoiding media's scrutiny of his reaction to domestic politics -- specifically, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusation that the CIA misled.
On Thursday, Pelosi said the clandestine agency lied about what Bush-era interrogation methods were used on high-profile terror detainees in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Panetta pushed back Friday in a letter to CIA staff, affirming that the agency's response to congressional inquiries about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah were truthful. "Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened," he said in the letter.
Introducing Panetta at the Monday luncheon will be Rep. Jane Harman, who objected to the interrogation methods when she learned about them in 2003. Pelosi told reporters that Harman was the appropriate person to register a complaint, although, in Pelosi's view, it couldn't stop the Bush administration. Pelosi went on to say that she decided to focus on a Democratic takeover of Congress and the White House in part to put an end to the interrogation methods.
Pelosi issued a statement saying criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from her respect for those in the intelligence community.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What is important now is to be united in our commitment to ensuring the security of our country; that and how Congress exercises its oversight responsibilities, will continue to be my focus as we move forward."