Panetta clashes with CIA over memoirs

Former CIA director Leon Edward Panetta has clashed with the spy agency over a book he has recently published.

The book, a memoir, is said to be complimentary towards the US Central Intelligence Agency, yet Panetta had it published without a final approval by the agency, a Washington Post report said on Tuesday.

The release of the book, titled “Worthy Fights,” can put the former director in violation of secrecy agreements in the agency, which Panetta headed from 2009 to 2011.

So far, many other employees of CIA have been sued for breaking such agreements.

Panetta’s book “was submitted earlier this year to both the Department of Defense and CIA for the requisite reviews. Secretary Panetta worked closely with both to ensure that ‘Worthy Fights’ was accurate and appropriate for publication,” said a spokeswoman for the book’s publisher, Penguin Press.

Both CIA and Panetta refused to comment on the issue, according to the report.

It is said that the former US secretary of defense was frustrated over the spy agency’s delay in issuing an approval and threatened CIA Director John Brennan that he would continue with the publication without any clearance.

CIA requires all of its staff to submit any agency-related material that they “contemplate disclosing publicly.”

NT/GJH