by Matthias Deangelo

Created on: May 25, 2009

The correct answer is we don't know, nor will we until/unless there is an open, credible investigation about who is telling the truth. Unfortunately, we may never get one, so we may never know, and we should.

Conceding that this is conjecture based on an incomplete set of facts, my bet is that Pelosi is the one not being truthful here. This is based on: her continually shifting stories; her naturally defensive posture at the press conference when she first aired her explosive charges; the fact that the head of the CIA, a Democrat, vigorously disputed her account; the fact that although several Congressional Republicans who were in a position to know, have disputed her account; AND that not one Congressional Democrat has corroborated her story. Plus, there is the fact that Pelosi claims she was told about possible future conduct by the CIA that she denounced as unacceptable. Yet, she did nothing to block the implementation of such conduct by the CIA. As

Charles Krauthammer noted, in prior columns, she registered no protests, and no threats to cut funding for such supposedly terrible acts.

But again, it bears repeating that we don't know and we should. The speaker continues to stand by her story, and the CIA insists that it told the truth to the Congressional Intelligence Committees. Relying on the self-serving narratives from either side is not helpful either, due to the nature of intelligence briefings. By definition, intelligence briefings are secretive. This means we do not have the benefit of a full public record regarding what was said, when it was said, by whom and to whom it was said.

This stands in sharp contrast to just about all other Congressional Committees. which conduct their business in public. That is how it should be, as the people have a right to see what their duly elected representatives are doing in their name.

However, there are legitimate national security reasons for keeping intelligence reports secret. We do not want our enemies (nor even our friends) to know what we know and how we know it. If we publicly disclose certain pieces of information, then foreign governments will know that their security has been compromised, and in many cases, they will know the sources of this information. This could puts lives in jeopardy, including the lives of people who are risking their lives to help our country. That is why members of Congress who serve on the Intelligence Committees are sworn to secrecy, as are the CIA employess who give the briefings. As a result, whatever information is leaked out, will inevitably be selective, and thus, parts of the story are missing.

The Speaker's charges are serious. Either, CIA employees committed the crime of lying to Congress, or the Speaker has smeared the Agency. Unless one side or the other recants, we need a non-partisan investigation to get to the truth of these allegations which will end with either the Speaker's disgrace, or a CIA operative or two in prison.

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