CIA Director Leon Panetta today rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charge that the agency misled her in 2002 about its use of waterboarding and other coercive interrogation methods on suspected terrorists.

Panetta, who took office as President Obama's CIA chief in February, reasserted the agency's claim that it told congressional leaders about the use of such methods during a closed-door briefing in September 2002.

Panetta, a former Democratic congressman from California, urged CIA employees not to be distracted by the controversy. "Ignore the noise and stay focused on your mission," he said.