Politico's Glenn Thrush:

I asked McCain if recent doubts cast on the document by former intelligence committee chairmen Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) -- which back Nancy Pelosi's claim she had been “misled” -- had merit.

He replied: “The briefings I have had on torture i don't forget... They [Graham and Rockefeller] have a problem with Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, they ought to sit down and talk with him because he was the one who said [Pelosi] was well briefed.”

Thrush let that comment stand unchallenged. But Panetta didn't say Pelosi “was well briefed.” Thrush's colleague Josh Gerstein explained on Monday:

Look carefully at Panetta's statement from Friday, especially the verb tense used. “Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.” First, “let me be clear” always precedes an ambiguous statement. Without fail. Panetta isn't opining on past acts. He's referring to the current policy. He's also not saying it never happens or happened that someone lied to or misled Congress. He's saying the agency as a whole doesn't intend to.

Panetta was at his Monterey, Calif. think tank when this all happened in 2002 and 2003. He doesn't know if Pelosi was lied to. He also doesn't say he talked to the briefers and is convinced they're telling the truth. He just says the paper records say she was briefed about the techniques. We knew that already from agency statements. So he's adding his voice to the mix and sending a signal that he'll stand by his agency, but to say he sided with the briefers on the specifics is just wrong.

Again, I'm not saying Pelosi was lied to or even misled. It would seem rather brazen to do that. But Panetta's statement says less than people are claiming.

For that matter, Graham and Rockefeller don't have a “problem with Leon Panetta,” as Thrush allowed McCain to claim; they have a problem with the logs the CIA has released. Those logs, not Panetta, are at odds with their memories. Republican Pete Hoekstra thinks the logs are imperfect. And even the CIA says the logs are based on "best recollections," not hard facts.

So, basically, nothing McCain said was true. But Thrush didn't challenge any of it.