Update: Did the C.I.A. Lie to Congress?

On July 9, we asked the question, “Did the C.I.A. Lie to Congress?” and discussed the possibility that the C.I.A. had indeed withheld information from the U.S. Congress.

That is exactly what some Democrats were claiming.

According to a New York Times column, “Democrats Say C.I.A. Deceived Congress,“ we quoted then:

In a June 26 letter to Mr. Panetta discussing his testimony, Democrats said that the agency had “misled members” of Congress for eight years about the classified matters, which the letter did not disclose. “This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods,” said the letter, made public late Wednesday by Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, one of the signers.

And, according to a Huffington Post article, “Panetta Acknowledged CIA Misled On Interrogation Policy: Dem Lawmakers,” which we also quoted:

CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers in a recent briefing that the intelligence agency he heads misled Congress on “significant actions” for a “number of years,” a group of Democrats revealed on Wednesday.

At the time we didn’t know any details as to who, what and when.

Just about one hour ago, the New York Times released the following in “Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project“:

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

And,

The law requires the president to make sure the intelligence committees “are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity.”

But there are apparently some loopholes:

…the language of the statute, the amended National Security Act of 1947, leaves some leeway for judgment, saying such briefings should be done “to the extent consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters.”

And, apparently, for covert action programs, the law says that “briefings can be limited to the so-called Gang of Eight, consisting of the Republican and Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress and of their intelligence committees.”

Furthermore, according to the Times:

The disclosure about Mr. Cheney’s role in the unidentified C.I.A. program comes a day after an inspector general’s report underscored the central role of the former vice president’s office in restricting to a small circle of officials knowledge of the National Security Agency’s program of eavesdropping without warrants, a degree of secrecy that the report concluded hurt the effectiveness of the counterterrorism surveillance effort.

Intelligence agency spokesmen have declined to identify the program or comment on Cheney’s role, noting that the program remains classified.

But,

Intelligence and Congressional officials have said the unidentified program did not involve the C.I.A. interrogation program and did not involve domestic intelligence activities…and never became fully operational

The Times report concludes:

“There’s been a history of difficulty in getting the C.I.A. to tell us what they should,” said Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington. “We will absolutely be held accountable for anything the agency does.”

Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the committee’s top Republican, said he would not judge the agency harshly in the case of the unidentified program, because it was not fully operational. But he said that in general, the agency has not been as forthcoming as the law requires.

Bottom line: We still don’t know who, what or when—and we may never know—but it is interesting (or expected?) that Cheney’s name now pops up.