Claiming Pelosi was "slapped ... down," USA Today mischaracterizes Panetta statement

In a May 21 editorial, USA Today falsely asserted that after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "accus[ed] the CIA of misleading Congress" about its use of enhanced interrogation techniques, CIA director Leon Panetta "slapped her down, saying his agency did not lie to Congress." In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, in a May 15 statement, Panetta said, "Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress" [emphasis added]. He went on to note that "our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully" but that "[u]ltimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions."

As Politico's White House reporter Josh Gerstein noted in a May 18 post, "Panetta didn't reject or deny ... Pelosi's allegations that she was falsely briefed by the CIA about interrogations. Look carefully at Panetta's statement from Friday, especially the verb tense used. ... 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."

From Panetta's May 15 statement:

There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I'm gone. But the political debates about interrogation reached a new decibel level yesterday when the CIA was accused of misleading Congress.

Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing "the enhanced techniques that had been employed." Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened.

My advice -- indeed, my direction -- to you is straightforward: ignore the noise and stay focused on your mission. We have too much work to do to be distracted from our job of protecting this country.

We are an Agency of high integrity, professionalism, and dedication. Our task is to tell it like it is -- even if that's not what people always want to hear. Keep it up. Our national security depends on it.