I just looked back at this comment from Obama from earlier this week:

“Experience in Washington is not knowledge of the world,” he continued, provoking laughter among those present. “This I know. When Senator Clinton brags, ‘I’ve met leaders from 80 countries,’ I know what those trips are like. I’ve been on them. You go from the airport to the embassy. There’s a group of children who do a native dance. You meet with the C.I.A. station chief and the embassy and they give you a briefing. You go take a tour of plant that” with “the assistance of USAID has started something. And then, you go.”

The concept of CIA station chiefs giving briefings to visiting lawmakers itself isn’t quite a state secret; one of those briefings is depicted in the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” and described in the book as well.

But does this comment mark the first time a lawmaker has, on the record, confirmed that the CIA’s station chiefs do this regularly for visiting codels?

And wouldn’t the CIA prefer that lawmakers not talk about those briefings? Even to confirm that they exist?