Panetta and “terrorism”: November 10, 1995:

The day began with the observation by Michael D. McCurry, the President’s press secretary, that “there are no chances at this point” of President Clinton signing legislation that would prevent the Government from coming to a screeching halt next week. That prompted the Republican leaders, Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Bob Dole, to call a news conference at the Capitol where they sought to assign blame for the conflict to the White House. “It is very difficult to work with a President who seems to be primarily driven by his political advisers to engage in public relations stunts,” Mr. Gingrich said. And Mr. Dole said: “It’s up to the President of the United States. If the Government shuts down, his fingerprints are going to be all over it.” Not to be outdone, Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Leon E. Panetta, the President’s chief of staff, scurried to the White House press room. “Don’t put a gun to the head of the President and the head of the country,” said Mr. Panetta. “That’s a form of terrorism.”

And I’d bet Newt gets the blame for this if/when it comes up at the confirmation hearing. August 5, 1996:

Speaker Newt Gingrich said today that Congress was reluctant to give the Federal Bureau of Investigation more authority to fight terrorism because lawmakers felt the bureau had mishandled the investigation of files given to the White House. In particular, Mr. Gingrich said, the F.B.I. warned the White House of the existence of its confidential report relating to the investigation, and that action, Mr. Gingrich said, ”is very disturbing and frankly was a major factor in stopping us from being able to give them the wiretap authority they seek.” A rushed effort to pass new antiterrorism legislation last week before Congress left for its August recess failed when Senate Democrats refused to accept a House-passed version that left out two White House proposals: new Federal wiretapping authority and a requirement for chemical markers to help identify the source of explosives. President Clinton had urged Congress to take quick action after the crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 and the pipe-bomb explosion at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. ”When you have an agency that turns 900 personnel files over to people like Craig Livingstone and doesn’t protect those files, it’s very hard to justify giving that agency more power,” Mr. Gingrich said on ”Fox News Sunday.” […] The Administration wants to extend emergency wiretapping authority, which is now available for fighting organized crime, to people who are suspected of terrorism. ”We should not tie the hands of law enforcement in the effort to bring these terrorists to justice,” Leon E. Panetta, the White House chief of staff, said on the CBS News program ”Face the Nation.”