Heard the rumor about Leon Panetta's "daughter" Linda and Hugo Chavez?

By GottaLaff

Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Linda Panetta

Apparently, the photo and caption above are making the rounds, and the Linda Panetta in it is being falsely i.d.'d as Leon Panetta's daughter. The Panettas, you know, have been pallin' around with a bad crowd. Wrong. Wronger than wrong, dead wrong. Via PUMA:

Linda Panetta- Anti-Us Agitator, Leon Panetta- CIA Director Nominee… Is there anything wrong with this picture?

In it, we stated that Leon was Linda’s father, we however had the following disclaimer as well:

CAVEAT: Based on the reasearch we’ve done, it seems Linda is the daughter of Leon. She’s definitely given speaking engagements using that family history, there is however some controversy about her parentage, so till it’s conclusively proven that Leon is her father, take this one with a grain of salt.

Well, at this point in time , we can conclusively state that Linda is NOT Leon’s daughter: Accuracy In Media

But reached by telephone in Philadelphia, Linda Panetta told Accuracy in Media that while she admires Leon Panetta and that there may be a distant family connection somewhere, he is not her father and that she has never even met him. “Not only am I not his daughter but unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of meeting this man who has done amazing work in his lifetime,” she said. “He and my father may have been second cousins,” she acknowledged, but under no circumstances is he her father.

Despite charges or information to the contrary, she has never claimed to be his daughter. She explained, “God rest my Dad’s soul. He was an incredible individual as well. I would never in my lifetime claim to be anybody’s daughter but my father’s.”

Baseless rumors are so easily squelched, so why even start them?

H/t: Jon Lester