CIA Director Leon Panetta took a lot of heat Thursday when he said the resignation of 29 year President Hosni Mubarak was “highly likely,” only to watch with the rest of the world hours later as Mubarak announced he wasn’t stepping down.
But when Mubarak resigned Friday, the Washington spin machine moved to Panetta’s defense.
One intelligence official said he told members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that the situation was fluid and “we haven’t been able to confirm in fact” Mubarak is going to resign.
The official insisted Panetta’s statements “were taken out of context” and that time proved the assessment to be right.
“They didn’t even give it 12 hours,” the official said.
In other words, Panetta was faulted for being right too early, at least in the eyes of his supporters.
