President Obama’s nominee to head the CIA, Leon Panetta, appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday as part of his confirmation hearings. Panetta said he believes waterboarding amounts to torture but discouraged prosecutions against those who carried it out.

Leon Panetta: “I’ve expressed the opinion that I believe that waterboarding is torture and that it’s wrong. More importantly, the President has expressed the same opinion. Having said that, I also believe, as the President has indicated, that those individuals who operated pursuant to a legal opinion that indicated that that was proper and legal ought not to be prosecuted or investigated.”

Panetta is expected to win an easy confirmation despite Republican opposition.