WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she expects Democrats who have accused senior CIA officials of repeatedly misleading Congress to further pursue the allegations. "I've seen the letters from the members and obviously they have concern," Pelosi said about the letters written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and revealed Wednesday.
In the letters, Democrats said that CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.
| Panetta said earlier this year that the CIA did not mislead Congress. Was he right then or is he right now? |
But Republicans say the allegations are just political maneuvering to protect Pelosi, who has been under constant fire since alleging that the CIA lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques.
Exactly what actions Panetta disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee on June 24 is unclear, but committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said the CIA outright lied in one case.
"These notifications have led me to conclude that this committee has been misled, has not been provided full and complete notifications, and (in at least one case) was affirmatively lied to," Reyes wrote to Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the committee's senior Republican. A copy of his letter was obtained by The Associated Press. Reyes said in the letter that he is considering opening a full investigation.