By GottaLaff
Erick Erickson posted that he was hearing “a very credible rumor” that CIA Director Leon Panetta has “dispatched a resignation letter to Barack Obama on vacation.” [....] “This report is false, wrong and bogus,” said CIA spokesman George Little.That was today's Quickie. Was it good for you?
By GottaLaff
Ken Gude, an associate director at the Center for American Progress, who specializes in national-security issues, and who has close ties to the White House, believes that Obama’s instinct, like Panetta’s, was to set up a truth commission of some sort. “I think the political staff walked it back,” he says. “They said it would be a distraction.” Obama’s political advisers dread any issue that could trigger a culture war and diminish his support among independent voters. They also see little advantage in picking a fight with the C.I.A. But the decision to discourage an accountability process, Gude says, has backfired. The Administration has lost control of the story, as revelations about C.I.A. misdeeds have continued to emerge through lawsuits and the press. “It’s now become the distraction they wanted to avoid,” Gude says. “The White House briefings have been dominated by questions about releasing documents and photos.” It’s understandable, he says, that Obama wouldn’t want to spend his energy on Bush’s mistakes. But, he warns, “they can’t leave the impression that they’re trying to cover it up.” [...]
Meanwhile, John Brennan—the man who was considered too politically toxic for the top C.I.A. job—has become a senior official on the National Security Council. Brennan, who, as one former C.I.A. officer puts it, was once “joined to George Tenet at the hip”—he served as Tenet’s chief of staff—now advises Obama on terrorism and other national-security issues. He has reportedly lobbied hard to maintain secrecy on past abuses. According to Newsweek, Brennan recently persuaded Panetta to join him in protesting Obama’s plan to release four shocking Justice Department memos about the interrogation program. The documents, written by lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel, showed that the C.I.A. had waterboarded one suspect at least a hundred and eighty-three times and subjected many others to harrowing mistreatment. Opponents have argued that exposing such details could spark an anti-American backlash. Panetta also argued forcefully in favor of indemnifying any C.I.A. officers whose actions, as described in the memos, might have opened them up to criminal charges. [...]
After intense consideration, and a late-night meeting in Rahm Emanuel’s office, Obama rejected Panetta’s arguments for secrecy, deciding that it was in the public interest to release the memos. But Obama also endorsed the notion of giving blanket amnesty to any C.I.A. officers performing authorized work. [...]
Panetta’s advisers may have had a personal stake in opposing transparency. Another former C.I.A. official, who knows Brennan well, noted that, if the Bush torture program were to be further investigated, “potentially, both Brennan and Kappes could have a lot to lose.”
By GottaLaff
CIA Director Leon Panetta says agency employees who took part in harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects are not in danger of being punished. [...]I strongly oppose what he would strongly oppose.
He said then that he would oppose prosecutions of any CIA employee who adhered to their legal guidance on interrogations.
By GottaLaff
Vice President Joe Biden presided at a ceremonial swearing-in for the new CIA director, Leon Panetta, at the intelligence agency's headquarters in Langley, VA, where he was cheered by employees.Biden said as one of the agency's "leading customers" that he demanded the "unvarnished truth." He said that the CIA must "look around corners" and "imagine the unimaginable."
And the vice president underscored that a hallmark of this administration's foreign policy and diplomacy would be engagement, which he characterized as "active and aggressive."
In his remarks, Panetta said he wanted the agency to re-establish a working relationship with Capitol Hill. And he vowed, "We have to be honest." [...]
The new CIA director said that integrity and respecting law were the main missions of the agency. He said that the primary goal on his watch would be to provide leadership -- too often, he said, "we have governed largely by crisis."
By GottaLaff
MSNBC just reported that Leon Panetta was confirmed by the Senate as CIA director.
By GottaLaff
From this to this:
Just two days after she criticized President-elect Obama’s pick to head the sometimes-troubled CIA because he is not an intelligence professional, incoming Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein says she will support Leon Panetta because he will “tell truth to power.”Everybody kissed and made up.In an interview with CNN, Feinstein said she believes Panetta, a former congressman and Clinton White House chief of staff, will “surround himself with very qualified intelligence professionals in the top positions.” She praised Panetta, whom she’s known for 20 years, as “smart” and “credible.”
“He will, as has been said, tell truth to power. Not what power wants to hear but should here,” Feinstein said. “That’s probably the most fundamental part of all of this. That what many of think happened with the Iraq NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) never happens again.”
Feinstein denied that the short statement she issued Monday, after news of the Obama’s selection was reported by the New York Times, was designed to send a message to the incoming administration that she was angry at not being consulted about the selection.
By GottaLaff
Political Wire has learned that early in the Obama transition former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta was actually angling to be secretary of commerce -- not CIA Director.That would be an, er, unusual move. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing Team Obama would do. Fluctuation isn't their style. Too messy.
However, now that the leaked news of Panetta's nomination has apparently ticked off Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) -- and with the commerce seat now open again -- might Panetta be tapped for that job instead?
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