In the Pelosi-Panetta-CIA smackdown, the Washington Post is not accurately characterizing Madame Speaker’s claims:
Panetta, who took office as President Obama’s CIA chief in February, reasserted the agency’s claim that it told congressional leaders about the use of such methods during a closed-door briefing in September 2002. Pelosi (D-Calif.) has acknowledged attending the briefing but says she was told only that the CIA was considering the use of waterboarding, or simulated drowning.
That is not all she is saying. She is saying, through her spokesman, that the CIA actively lied to her. That is, she is not only saying that she was not informed about waterboarding, she is saying that she was actively and falsely informed that no waterboarding had taken place. She is not claiming that she was poorly informed, but that she, and through her, Congress, was actively lied to by the CIA. That is the heart of this matter, and the Washington Post ought to incorporate that fact into its reporting.