Skip Navigation
Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder - Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. More

Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal. He previously served as the politics editor, and is now a contributing editor, for The Atlantic, where he curated the influential Politics channel on TheAtlantic.com and contributed to the magazine. He was also a chief political consultant to CBS News. Earlier, at NJ's Hotline, Ambinder was the founding editor of "Hotline On Call," a pathbreaking political news blog. He also worked as a producer and reporter for the ABC News Political Unit and was one of the founders of ABC's "The Note." Born in New York City, raised in Central Florida, Ambinder is a 2001 graduate of Harvard and lives in Washington, D.C.

Did Panetta Threaten To Resign?

By Marc Ambinder
Aug 24 2009, 3:22 PM ET Comment

ABC News, citing senior administration officials, says "yes." The CIA and other officials say the story is a "lie."  Who's right?  For the sake of Panetta's main audience -- CIA employees -- his threat to resign over a matter of principle to him is probably a good thing, if it happened at all, so I don't think CIA quite minds the story as much as one might think.  The ABC story includes references to discontent at the highest levels of the administration with the president's national security team, and yet the evidence for that is nil: indeed, John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser and a man whose imminent resignation is often rumored, just saw his portfolio expand to include oversight of a new interrogation program.  And whatever's wrong at CIA has little to do with Panetta and more to do with the legacy of institutional and personnel decisions made by the former administration.


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Poll of the Day: Americans' Attitudes About Sin Poll of the Day: Americans' Attitudes About Sin
The Bee Gees Are Disco Icons, but Robin Gibb Was Pure Pop The Bee Gees Are Disco Icons, but Robin Gibb Was Pure Pop
If 10 Berkeley Cops Can't Get the Chief's Son's Phone Back, Your Vigilante Recovery Won't Work Either The Perils of Tracking Down a Stolen Phone
Sushi Salmonella Now Affects 21 States Sushi Salmonella Now Affects 21 States
Can Better Data Keep Students From Dropping Out of College? Can Better Data Keep Students From Dropping Out of College?

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

One Year Since the Joplin Tornado

May 23, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Marc Ambinder
from the Magazine

The Ally From Hell

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional.…