Did Panetta Throw His Own Agency Under the Bus?

Or is this a ham-handed effort to protect Nancy Pelosi?:

CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001, the chairman and other members of the House Intelligence Committee said in letters revealed Wednesday.

Seven Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee wrote to Panetta in late June and asked him to "publicly correct" his May 15 statement that it is not the "policy or practice of the agency to mislead Congress," a copy of the letter obtained by FOX News shows.

FOX News has confirmed that the letter stems from testimony Panetta gave behind closed doors to the Intelligence Committee on June 24. The letter says Panetta told the committee that "top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from all Members of Congress, and misled Members for a number of years from 2001 to this week."

The lawmakers did not write the letter on official Congressional letterhead. A House source says this was not an official communication from the House Intelligence Committee and that there was concern from others on the panel that the co-signers were trying to force Panetta to apologize for alleged problems created by the Bush Administration's CIA.

Exactly what actions Panetta disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee on June 24 is unclear, but committee chairman Silvestre Reyes said that the CIA outright lied in one case.

"They wanted (Panetta) to throw (the Bush CIA) under the bus," said a House close source who monitors intelligence matters.

The seven Democrats who signed the letter are Reps. Anna Eshoo of California, John Tierney of Massachusetts, Rush Holt of New Jersey, Mike Thompson of California, Alcee Hastings of California, Adam Smith of Washington and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. It was dated June 26.

In a statement, CIA spokesman George Little says that "it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed." Little also points out that "it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees."

House Republicans argue the letter is an effort to protect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She came under fire after alleging that the CIA lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques. Pelosi now says she has confidence in the intelligence community. Republicans enjoyed a field day with speaker's remarks and demanded she provide proof that the CIA failed to tell her the truth.

If Panetta doesn't disavow this his credibility with his own agency will be destroyed. If he sticks to his earlier statement, the Dems come out looking pretty stupid.

My guess is he'll throw the CIA under the bus, and for the rest of his time as Director the agency will do everything it can to embarrass him and Obama.