Concerns about the readiness of President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for director of Central Intelligence were put to rest today when former President Bill Clinton called his old Chief of Staff Leon Panetta “the perfect pick to head the CIA.”Mr. Panetta has no previous experience in the intelligence community and served 16 years as a U.S. Congressman, raising questions at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA, about his ability to guard the nation’s secrets.
However, President Clinton, called him “a trustworthy public servant who knows how to keep his mouth shut.”
“Leon was by my side for two and half years,” said Mr. Clinton. “About 14 months of his service came during the time that I was not having sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky, in the White House. During all those months, no one ever knew what my chief of staff knew or didn’t know, nor do they know it now.”
Mr. Panetta has also been a vocal opponent of the use of torture, but Mr. Clinton said “that’s likely just a lasting effect of his close contact with the former First Lady.”
“Hillary made an impact on a lot of people that way,” he said. “Personally, I still can’t stand the thought that another human would have to endure loud, harsh noises and or the continual drip, drip, drip of Chinese water torture. She’s made Leon and me much more merciful toward even our enemies.”
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