The CIA Lied; Maybe Pelosi Was Right About Waterboarding

I'll admit it. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wasn't informed of waterboarding, and in fact was lied to by the CIA about the practice, my journalistic instincts kicked in. It seemed too cloak and dagger, too spy vs. spy, and, above all, just too incredibly convenient to accept without a closer look.

I wasn't the only one who was a little suspicious. Indeed, some were more than suspicious and accused Pelosi of lying. House Republicans called for an investigation of Pelosi. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee even wrote a poem on the subject. But Pelosi didn't back down from the claim, and now the facts may be bearing her out. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee say that CIA Chief Leon Panetta has admitted that since 2001, the CIA had deceived Congress.

What subjects the CIA had been lying about throughout the Bush administration are still unspecified, though Intelligence Committee member Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) told The New York Times that "we wouldn't be doing this over a trivial matter." Given the timeline, however, it seems very likely to me that the lies could cover the use of torture on detainees, including waterboarding.

When Pelosi's allegations first came out, Panetta issued a strong statement to CIA employees denying that the CIA had been untruthful. He said, "It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values." That much, at least, Panetta got right -- lying to Congress was not only wrong, it was illegal.