It is not surprising that Newt Gingrich would call out Nancy Pelosi as “despicable” and “dishonest.” But several other retorts are noteworthy. First, Sen. Kit Bond makes the logical point: why would the CIA discuss methods they were not using? It makes no sense on its face. Second, Sen. Bob Graham is claiming the same ignorance circa 2002 as Pelosi, but he sinks her defense that nothing could be done:

Graham said that, if he had been told about waterboarding, “I would have reacted with great disagreement with that practice which broke 200 years of American history. There are a limited number of things that a member of the leadership can do. You can’t talk to members of the committee, you can’t talk to staff, you can’t consult with experts. About the only thing you can do is go to the administration which has initiated this policy and urged them to reconsider.”

But the real blowback comes from Leon Panetta, who does everything but call Pelosi a liar:

There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I’m gone. But the political debates about interrogation reached a new decibel level yesterday when the CIA was accused of misleading Congress.

Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing “the enhanced techniques that had been employed.” Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened.

Now Panetta is the president’s man and presumably has his full confidence. He has, as one would expect, defended his agency and confirmed that Pelosi’s account is wrong. You can dance around it anyway you like but the administration has accused the Speaker of lying and politicizing national security. Democrats will need to decide which side they are on: Obama’s or Pelosi’s.