In the wake of reports by congressional Democrats that CIA director Leon Panetta has acknowledged to members of Congress that the CIA has misled Congress, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough noted on July 9 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- whom he called “a friend of mine from Congress” -- “caught a lot of grief” in May for accusing the CIA of misleading her about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. But Scarborough did not note that he was one of many conservatives attacking Pelosi in May for accusing the CIA of misleading her. Indeed, at the time, Scarborough called Pelosi's allegations a “joke.”

On July 9, Scarborough was interviewing Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) about House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes' July 7 letter stating that CIA Director Leon Panetta admitted in a closed hearing that the CIA had not fully informed Congress on other classified matters. Scarborough asked Eshoo whether, in light of Panetta's May 15 statement that it is not the CIA's “policy or practice to mislead Congress,” “Pelosi believe[s] that she has been hung out to dry” by Panetta. Scarborough and Eshoo also discussed a letter she and six other members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent to Panetta asking whether he would now modify his comments about the CIA's “policy or practice.” Noting that the CIA has since reaffirmed Panetta's statement, Scarborough said: “He [Panetta] didn't listen to you, and either the CIA is lying or you're lying, and, of course, I know you're not lying. You're a wonderful person. But there isn't really a gray area here. Leon Panetta is telling you one thing behind closed doors, according to what you're saying here, and another thing publicly. Shouldn't that cause you and Americans concern?” Scarborough later said, “I would like an investigation.”

However, on the May 15 edition of Morning Joe, Scarborough attacked Pelosi, stating that she was “lying” and “changing her story.” He also said, “You don't accuse the CIA of lying. Especially when they're not lying.” Scarborough continued to attack Pelosi on May 18, asserting that in issuing his statement, Panetta had “stepped away from [Pelosi], undercut her, said, 'We don't lie.' ” Scarborough also stated that Pelosi had “been caught in a lie, and I think she really, for the sake of herself and her political future -- she needs to shut up.”

From the May 15 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: The problem with Nancy here is -- to be really truthful about this -- everybody knows she's lying.

MARK HALPERIN (Time editor-at-large and senior political analyst): And it's not even -- you don't even need more facts. She herself has now changed the story. And the position she's taking -- the position she took yesterday that I think caused the most people to laugh was when she said, “After I realized this was a problem, I decided all I could do was fight for Democratic control of Congress. I no longer could deal with the substance of the issue.”

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: So, she lies about waterboarding not going on at the time. And then, of course, the CIA let everybody know that waterboarding had gone on. So her next story was, “Oh, yes, yes, they told my aide.” That was the next story. Then she went to the story, “I was so upset, I had [Rep.] Jane Harman [D-CA], my dear, close, personal friend, Jane Harman, who I've tried to kill politically for years, write this letter for me.”

HALPERIN: Lent her the stamp, I believe.

SCARBOROUGH: Lent her the stamp. Licked the stamp, put it on the envelope to the CIA.

HALPERIN: Looked up the ZIP plus four.

SCARBOROUGH: Exactly. And then that story didn't wash because it was such a joke. So now she's gone to the next story, which is, the CIA is lying. Which is also a joke, because you talk to any CIA agent or anybody that knows the agency -- they write everything down. So what she has done is not only called the CIA liars, she's called all the other people in the briefings liars, Democrats and Republicans alike who were there, who have said, “This happened.”

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: Any Jim Croce fans around the table here?

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): I like him.

SCARBOROUGH: You know --

HALPERIN: “New York's Not My Home.”

SCARBOROUGH: Exactly. And also, you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with --

HALPERIN: A-doo-doo-duh-doo-doo-doo.

SCARBOROUGH: -- the CIA. Exactly. The CIA. You don't accuse the CIA of lying. Especially when they're not lying.

HALPERIN: I don't even know what she says they're lying about. That's still not clear to me.

SCARBOROUGH: It's amazing.

BRZEZINSKI: OK. Let's talk to --

SCARBOROUGH: She keeps changing her story.

From the May 18 edition of Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: And, hey, speaking of long, strange trips: Willie Geist, have you ever been busted for lying and recovered as badly as Nancy Pelosi? I mean, seriously.

GEIST (co-host): I've been busted for lying, yes. But I've recovered much better than the speaker has --

BRZEZINSKI: Oh, Willie, because you're cute.

GEIST: -- is what I would say.

BRZEZINSKI: All right. Fine.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, and even, you know, Leon Panetta, Mika, Leon Panetta served with Nancy Pelosi, likes Nancy Pelosi. He came out on Friday and really slapped her down. He stepped away from her, undercut her, said, “We don't lie.” She had to come out later with a statement praising the Central Intelligence Agency --

BRZEZINSKI: Oh, my God.

SCARBOROUGH: -- somehow trying to blame this on George Bush, who, last time I checked, was not in the briefing room on September 4th, 2002. She's been caught in a lie, and I think she really, for the sake of herself and her political future -- she needs to shut up --

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: -- and say, “I've said all I'm going to say, and I've got nothing else to say.”

From the July 9 edition of Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: OK, give us the background here, because when the news first came out, we heard that Leon Panetta had said that the CIA lied, and now is it -- do I understand it right that you all heard testimony behind closed doors where he admitted that the CIA had misled America?

ESHOO: Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, came up to the Hill to a closed session of the House Intelligence Committee to inform us that a program, which I can't discuss, obviously, had been in operation from 2001 until the day before he came to meet with us and he had ended -- he had ended that program. He was there to tell us that no member of Congress had ever been informed. And so the committee was actually stunned --

SCARBOROUGH: Hey, I'm sorry, Anna. Had been informed --

ESHOO: -- when he gave this information.

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: OK. So, Leon Panetta, of course, has told us before, and we could read the written statement, but you know it, that the CIA doesn't lie; it's not the practice of the CIA to lie. And because of that, obviously, Nancy Pelosi caught a lot of grief -- a friend of yours and a friend of mine from Congress. Does Nancy Pelosi believe that she has been hung out to dry by Leon Panetta?

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: But the one thing that I would guess we both agree on is that Congress has to constantly be informed, at least the Select Committee on Intel. We are in agreement there. So, if, in fact, Congress was lied to, that should concern all Americans.

ESHOO: Absolutely.

SCARBOROUGH: Isn't this important enough -- if you have a CIA director who's saying one thing publicly but telling you something else privately -- isn't this an important enough issue for the president of the United States to step in and declassify this information so we can get the truth?

[...]

ESHOO: The members that signed the letter -- and I don't think anyone on the committee would say that he was lying to us. What he did say on May 15th was -- is that the CIA does not mislead the Congress, that it is against their laws and their values, and that's why we wrote to him -- seven members of the committee -- and said, “We think that you should restate publicly and say that this statement no longer stands.” It really doesn't stand.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, but that's what they did today, though, and they said that it is not the position or -- nor is it our practice to mislead Congress, so you have a conflict today. He didn't listen to you, and either the CIA is lying or you're lying, and, of course, I know you're not lying. You're a wonderful person. But there isn't really a gray area here. Leon Panetta is telling you one thing behind closed doors, according to what you're saying here, and another thing publicly. Shouldn't that cause you and Americans concern?

ESHOO: Well, it is of deep concern because this is so serious. But what I would say -- what I would say to my children when they were small was that little people make little mistakes, big people make little mistakes. We know mistakes have been made. This is a grievous one. This is as serious as they come. Now, why the CIA is sticking to the same quote over and over again, I don't really think is -- I think it's totally inappropriate. But they're going to stick to their line. It's not so. And that's -- I think it warrants an investigation of the full committee.

SCARBOROUGH: I would like an investigation.