Newsweek is reporting CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency’s handling of a contentious and still highly classified intelligence program that was kept secret from members of Congress for eight years. CIA and congressional officials have refused to describe the nature of the covert program, but insisted it is not connected to the CIA’s use of controversial “enhanced” interrogation techniques. The Washington Post reports the secret program was related to the collection of information on suspected terrorists that was instituted after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The program’s existence erupted into a major political dispute this week when seven Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released a letter charging that the agency had “misled” members of Congress by failing to inform the oversight committees about the program until last month.