The memo by CIA Director Leon Panetta to the agency that countered Nancy Pelosi's claim that she was lied to was leaked by the White House to the speaker prior to its distribution, according to this article in the Washington Examiner by Susan Ferrechio:
The Central Intelligence Agency gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advanced warning before CIA Chief Leon Panetta sent a memo to employees at the spy agency that countered Pelosi's claim that the agency lied to Congress about waterboarding.
A CIA official, but not Panetta, made the call to Pelosi.
"His office gave a heads up," a Democratic aide said Monday.
The aide said Pelosi protested Panetta's memo on the call to no avail.
Republicans continued leveling criticism at Pelosi Monday, four days after Pelosi accused the CIA of lying about waterboarding.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Pelosi needs to apologize to employees at the agency.
But Democrats pointed to a Monday afternoon press conference with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in which a reporter asked if Obama has confidence in Pelosi's roll as speaker.
"He does," Gibbs responded, but refused to comment further about Pelosi's accusations or Panetta's response.
But one top Republican aide said it would be unusual for Panetta to act without the White House "being aware of it first," particularly because the memo referred to the speaker.
This makes sense when you consider that less than an hour after the Panetta memo hit the news nets, Pelosi had a response that turned her original accusation around 180 degrees and blamed President Bush for lying to Congress.
Nothing really improper about giving the speaker a heads up about an unclassified memo but it highlights the fact that the White House knows Pelosi stuck her foot in it with her wild accusations against the CIA and they are in full damage control mode now.
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