Panetta clashed with CIA over memoir, tested agency review process

By Greg Miller, Washington Post

Former CIA director Leon E. Panetta clashed with the agency over the contents of his recently published memoir and allowed his publisher to begin editing and making copies of the book before he had received final approval from the CIA, according to former U.S. officials and others familiar with the project.

Panetta’s decision appears to have put him in violation of the secrecy agreement that all CIA employees are required to sign and came amid a showdown with agency reviewers that could have derailed the release of the book, people involved in the matter said.

The memoir — almost unfailingly complimentary toward the spy service, which he led from 2009 to 2011 — was ultimately approved by the CIA’s Publications Review Board before it reached store shelves this month.

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