Does letter back Pelosi on CIA criticism?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought today to avoid diving back into the controversy over what she knew about harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees and when she knew it, despited being armed with more ammunition on her side.

In May, she acknowledged for the first time that she knew by early 2003 that the Central Intelligence Agency had subjected terror detainees to waterboarding, but saw little recourse to challenge the practice except by achieving Democratic control of Congress and the White House.

In defending herself, she also accused CIA officials of misleading Congress about the extent of the use of waterboarding, which she, President Obama, and others say is torture and have harshly criticized. CIA Director Leon Panetta, a former congressional colleague, denied the accusation, and some Republicans called for Pelosi to resign as speaker.

But in a letter disclosed Wednesday, seven Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee asserted that Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.

Pelosi told reporters today that Panetta has not told her that, and said she only knew of the letter from media reports.

Asked if the letter ends the debate over the "propriety" of her accusations about the CIA, she replied, "I didn't know there was any question about propriety. I'm very proud of my work in human rights over the years. And people know where I am on the issues on which we've agreed."

It's not clear what Panetta privately told the committee on June 24, but committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat, said the CIA clearly lied in one case.

The CIA did not directly comment on what Panetta told the panel, instead issuing its stock response. "It is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress. This agency and this director believe it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed. Director Panetta's actions back that up," spokesman George Little told reporters.

Republicans say the letter is part of a campaign to protect Pelosi.

The top Republican on the committee, Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, called the letter "one of the most bizarre episodes in politics that I've seen in my time here in Washington." "It looks like they're working on the political equation," Hoekstra said on CBS' "The Early Show." "They're not trying to foster a bipartisan consensus on national security."

The back-and-forth comes as the House debates a bill that would let more lawmakers attending top-secret intelligence briefings -- legislation that President Obama vows to veto.