The Senate Intelligence Committee should look deeper into the DNC and the funding of the infamous Trump dossier. At least, that’s what a big time Clinton ally, Obama ally, and CIA chief says.
Leon Panetta was Chief of Staff in the Bill Clinton White House. He was CIA director under Obama. He was then Obama’s Secretary of Defense. He is, in other words, not some loudmouth opposition talking head. He is credible. And he said this to Wolf Blitzer today:
“You know, knowing presidential campaigns, they’re big operations and somehow the left hand may not know what the right hand is doing. And that could be the case here, but I really do think that the committee is going to have to get into this, determine just exactly what happened — who knew what and when.”
So he thinks they should look into it, that there might be something that the Committee doesn’t know or hasn’t been told by the DNC. Bad, but not an accusation of lying exactly. Maybe the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing is all. Then again…
WOLF: But if the lawyer who was representing the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign Marc Elias is sitting next to John Podesta, he was asked do you know about the funding, he says no. Wouldn’t it at least be his responsibility to at least whisper in his ear ‘yes, yes you…’ and tell him what was going on so if he wasn’t lying, John Podesta, he would be able to clarify all that before the committee on a sensitive issue like this?
PANETTA: Well, it certainly makes the situation very awkward. If you’re testifying and saying you have no knowledge and the attorney sitting next to you is one of those that knew what was involved here, I think it does raise an issue that the committee is going to have to look at and determine just exactly who knew what.
At The Blaze, Sara Gonzales recounts what was said to the committee’s face.
Podesta told Senate Intelligence Committee investigators in September that he was not aware of a contractual agreement between the Clinton campaign and Fusion GPS, the company who hired British Intelligence Officer Christopher Steele to compile politically damaging information about Donald Trump during the campaign.
The dossier compiled by the investigators became the subject of controversy when media outlets, led by CNN, reported that outgoing Obama-era officials had briefed the Trump team about the existence of the dossier, and that the Russians might attempt to compromise Trump using the material therein. The dossier contains a significant amount of material that is extremely salacious in nature, of dubious plausibility, and factually unverified.
Wasserman Schultz also reportedly told investigators on the panel earlier this month that she had no knowledge of the dossier, even though she was head of the DNC at that time.
“Awkward” is probably an understatement, Mr. Panetta. In the common vernacular, this is known as “bald-faced lying.”