The CIA has a long and glorious history of lying to Congress

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_05/018183.php

May 14, 2009

IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO BELIEVE?.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi apparently raised quite a few eyebrows today when she argued that CIA officials misled congressional leaders on interrogation techniques during Bush's first term. Specifically, she said the briefings included "inaccurate and incomplete information."

The usual suspects quickly lined up to express their outrage.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said today that he "totally disagrees" with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) assertion that the CIA regularly misleads Congress.

"No, on that specific point I totally disagree," Lieberman told MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell. "Over the 20 years I've been here, I've been briefed constantly by the CIA, and I'd say they've told me the truth as they see it."

Republican lawmakers were, not surprisingly, far harsher in their rhetoric. Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), for example, exclaimed, "It's outrageous that a member of Congress would call our terror-fighters liars."

I realize Republicans see some value in trying to exploit this for partisan gain, but is what Pelosi said really all that hard to believe? I don't want to alarm anyone, but once in a while, the CIA is less than forthcoming with those who might try to limit their activities. This is especially true when the agency is engaged in conduct that might not be legal.

Let's also note the context. It was 2002 and 2003. The Bush administration was not only lying about Iraq, but administration officials had already begun committing acts of torture. It's outrageous to think that maybe, just maybe, the same Bush administration might not tell members of Congress the whole truth? C'mon.

I ask because I am not sure if the CIA specifically were part of those lies

I was going to post about the same thing NNN

do you think he'd look up?

;-)

when Bush blamed "bad intelligence" for 9/11 AND the war on Iraq that was not calling the CIA liars that was just calling them incompetent and responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people.....which is nice

Only when it's in their best interests can they even say that. Someone needs to school Bond on his colleague, Boehner. I imagine if someone digs deep, we can even find Bond quotes from the past.

http://mediamattersaction.org/video/200905140006

Rep. Boehner: Now and Then
May 14, 2009 3:51 pm ET


Today, May 14, 2009, Rep. John Boehner criticized Speaker Pelosi's press conference by saying, "it's hard for me to imagine that our intelligence area would ever mislead a member of Congress." Yet in 2007, Rep. Boehner criticized our nation's intelligence community by saying, "either I don't have confidence in what they told me several months ago or I don't have confidence in what they're telling me today." Once again, rather than finding the truth, Rep. Boehner is playing politics.

John Boehner Now

John Boehner: "I've dealt with our intelligence professionals for the last three-and-a-half years on an almost daily basis, and it's hard for me to imagine that our intelligence area would ever mislead a member of Congress.
John Boehner Then:

December 9, 2007:

Wolf Blitzer: "Are you suggesting, as I think you are, that you don't necessarily have confidence in this new NIE?"

Rep. John Boehner: "Either I don't have confidence in what they told me several months ago or I don't have confidence in what they're telling me today."

February 11, 2007:

Rep. John Boehner: "It's clear to all of us, Democrats and Republicans, that we have flawed intelligence. The CIA have bad intelligence, the Pentagon had bad intelligence and, for that matter, all of our allies around the world had the same bad intelligence. And so that's why Republicans voted to set up the National Intelligence Directorate to reform our intelligence activities."

Congress, not that it as an institution lied. And my guess is that the debriefers were either appointed by Bush or were under the direct control of someone who was. In other words, the administration lied; not necessarily the CIA as an institution.

The rest of the "institution" just covered it up.