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Harman: I Never Contacted DOJ On AIPAC Case
Rep. Jane Harman's office has released a statement in response to CQ's report that the congresswoman was heard on an NSA wiretap telling an "Israeli agent" that she would press the Justice Department to ease up on the AIPAC spy case in return for political help.
The CQ Politics story simply recycles three year-old discredited reporting of largely unsourced material to manufacture a 'scoop' out of widely known and unremarkable facts - that Congresswoman Jane Harman is and has long been a supporter of AIPAC, and that some members of AIPAC regarded her as well-qualified to chair the House Intelligence Committee following the 2006 elections. Congresswoman Harman has never contacted the Justice Department about its prosecution of present or former AIPAC employees and the Department has never informed her that she was or is the subject of or involved in an investigation. If there is anything about this story that should arouse concern, it is that the Bush Administration may have been engaged in electronic surveillance of members of the congressional Intelligence Committees.
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Josh
Zachary
Why is no news organization reporting on this? MSNBC, CNN, FOX, NO ONE.
April 20, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Google News has this item as the #8 story in the US News category. The highest profile news outlet referenced is this LA Times blog posting.
April 20, 2009 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder about that too. One of the bloggers on Politico mentioned the CQ article, but only to stress Harmon's denial.
Probably, the MSM just hasn't gotten permission from Drudge yet to cover this story. Or perhaps Fox just sees the story as more anti-Bush than anti-Democrat.
April 20, 2009 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Probably, the MSM just hasn't gotten permission from Drudge yet to cover this story. Or perhaps Fox just sees the story as more anti-Bush than anti-Democrat."
Hilarious. Also, unfortunately, true.
April 20, 2009 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Josh nailed it last night in his initial post: the story is "radioactive."
But apparently still not sensational enough to merit a mention on Drudge.
With all the blog attention, though -- and Harman's "denial" -- one hopes the mainstream media quickly realize it's too big a story to successfully bury.
Maybe it'll take another day for them to summon up the cojones. But it's only a question of which network or major paper breaks first.
Harman is wrong to say the CQ story "simply recycles" what was reported in 2006. We didn't know then that the investigation of her involvement was quashed not for lack of evidence but out of political expediency.
We also hadn't heard her exact words in a conversation that, as she told the suspected Israeli agent, "doesn't exist."
April 20, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope to at least see something on it from Rachel Maddow this evening.
April 20, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because they get their new from the blogs...give them about two hours and the MSM will be reporting on this story.
April 20, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fascinating.
This morning's New York Times and L.A. Times stories are now online.
But they are oddly sanitized versions. Surely the most damning part of the CQ allegations is that the wiretap caught her speaking to "a suspected Israeli agent."
NYT and LAT both refer to the taped conversation, but skirt around whom, if anyone, Harman was talking to.
Bad journalism.
Dispute the claim that she was bartering with an Israeli spy if you want to -- I'm sure it's open to challenge -- but you can't just ignore it.
The wiretap was part of an espionage investigation.
That's the heart of the matter.
April 21, 2009 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Unless I am misreading the Harmon statement is a non-denial. She doesn't deny that the reported conversation with AIPAC occurred; she denies only that she fulfilled her side of the bargain by interceding with DOJ. In fact, the statement suggests that the conversation DID occur; if the entire thing was false then there would be no reason for her to suspect she was taped (which she calls the real concern).
April 20, 2009 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Two things:
NSA wiretrapping Congress. Proof positive. This is a BIG deal.
Note Harman's denial. Very cagey. She denies contacting the DOJ about the AIPAC case: Very misleading and open-ended statement. There are many ways you can help put the kibosh on an inveatigation. Further, you can contact someone over an unrelated matter and the topic could just happen to change.
April 20, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
NSA wiretrapping Congress. Proof positive. This is a BIG deal.
It might just be, NSA wiretapping spy (well, "foreign agent"). I think they're allowed to do that. It gets interesting when they hear said spy chatting with Harman about how they can help each other's activities.
Perhaps the appropriate penalty would be to require Jane Harman to register as a foreign agent.
April 20, 2009 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
This was even a legal NSA wiretap, unlike the warrantless ones that were so strenuously defended by -- guess who -- Jane Harman.
April 20, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course, Harman would never have had to contact the DOJ, since she had direct access to Gonzalez via the 'Gang of Eight.'
April 20, 2009 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or Gozo, or one of his minions, contacted Jan & said "I could use your help on this issue, oh and by the way, I have this tape I'm sitting on and ...."
April 20, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree the statement could have been clear and (probably deliberately) is not. The phrase "...the Department has never informed her that she was or is the subject of or involved in an investigation" implies that if such an inappropriate conversation had indeed taken place there would have been an investigation and since nobody is admitting to such an investigation then we are led to assume the conversation did not take place. Well, either that or the NSA didn't want to blow the lid off their illegal Congressional wiretapping scheme for such small potatos.
I'm betting the truth lies somewhere closer to the NSA not wanting to get its hand caught in the cookie jar than Harmon's hands being clean.
April 20, 2009 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps you are confused. Harman defended the illegal wiretaps, however, she was netted in a legal wiretap.
From CQ:
What is new is that Harman is said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington.
Marcy Wheeler has more here: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/20/jane-harman-stupid-and-reckless-not-the-victim-of-illegal-wiretaps/
April 20, 2009 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
That'll learn me to come to conclusions before gathering the facts!
In true Rethuglican fashion however I stand by my conclusions (see below) irrespective of the facts!
a) The NSA had (or has) its collective hand in the illegal Congressional wiretapping cookie jar.
b) Harmon's hands are likely dirty as well.
:-)
April 20, 2009 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
No argument from me on those points;)
April 20, 2009 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's also not denying her conversation with the NYTimes. Note as well Keller didn't either. He just said: 1. He didn't "recall" and 2. "No impact on his decision."
April 20, 2009 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the sources are shoddy, except when they mentioned that Bush was wiretapping congress - when the story was the target of the wiretap was the person Harmon was talking to.
April 20, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
of course she didn't contact DOJ: "This conversation never happened."
April 20, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Will she be treated the same as Blagojovich (sp?) or is it OK cause it's AIPAC and not the Senate? Gee, I wonder?
April 20, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is she going to be indicted for trying to sell Obama's senate seat? Unlikely.
April 20, 2009 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, I'm an Israeli mole planted inside the US government's intelligence apparatus.
What's the fuss?
April 20, 2009 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's not forget this from 2008 right here on TPM:
Guess who the key dem is.
Key Dem Urged NYT Reporter against Running Warrantless Wiretapping Story
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/key_dem_urged_nyt_reporter_aga.php
April 20, 2009 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't care if exposing the illegal wiretapping exposes some Dems who were complicit. Illegal is illegal regardless of what political party you belong to, or who is in the White House.
April 20, 2009 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone should tell Ms. Harman that it is a crime to agree to intervene ("waddle into") a pending criminal matter in exchange for help in obtaining the chairmanship of a congressional committee.
It doesn't matter if she didn't actually intervene, which is what she offers by way of defense. The agreement to do the deed may itself have been the "completed crime" referred to by CQ's source.
Further, it was a crime for Mr. Gonzalez to quash an investigation into Harman's promised assistance. -- But in light of Gonzalez's involvement in approving, planning, and overseeing the torture of detainees, who would care about this little...peccadillo?
April 20, 2009 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Non denial denial.
What's the big deal with Harman? Members and ex-members of U.S. Congress and the White House have been hooked up with all sorts of foreign governments, international businesses, paramilitary operations, right-wing international churces, etc., forever. Harman's known for her AIPAC connections and for wanting to deputize the National Guard against immigrants.
Much more important are the secret court and secret wiretapping laws, which allow the U.S. government the right to virtually unfettered spying. Also fun in this is the tweaking of the NY Times, facilitator of the Bush Administration wars, re-election and U.S. support of right-wing Zionism.
April 20, 2009 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink