A canard? A canard, you say! Harrumph!
Posted on 04/20/2009 6:57:25 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Report: Jane Harman recorded vowing take action for AIPAC on wiretap @ 9:33 am by Jeremy P. Jacobs
Congresswoman Jane Harman was recorded on a NSA wiretapped conversation agreeing to work to downgrade espionage charges against two officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in return for help securing the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, according to Jeff Stein's anonymously sourced column in Congressional Quarterly.
Harman, a California Democrat, was allegedly recorded in a conversation with a suspected Israeli agent. The conversation reportedly took place before the 2006 election, when Democrats seized control of the chamber and, therefore, the committee chairmanships.
It was widely reported at the time that Harman wanted to chair the Intelligence Committee but was passed over by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat. An FBI investigation was launched at the time into pro-Israel lobbyists seeking to influence Pelosi to give Harman the chairmanship.
The story alleges that then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales compelled the FBI to end the investigation in return for Harman defending the administration's wiretapping program.
Harman wholeheartedly denied wrong doing in a statement to the publication. "These claims are an outrageous and recycled canard, and have no basis in fact," she said. "I never engaged in any such activity. Those who are peddling these false accusations should be ashamed of themselves."
It is unclear from the story whether Harman knew she was talking to a "suspected Israeli agent."
In addition to these developments, the story touches upon the implied power of the Israel lobby, which, if this is all true, Harman believed could effectively lobby Pelosi for the chairmanship.
It does not appear that Harman was the member of Congress that the New York Times reported last week that the NSA attempted to wiretap.
Two more points of interest: That the NSA was listening to a member of Congress on its wiretaps is, by itself, newsworthy enough. But now, the fact that they are leaking the transcripts is mind boggling.
What in the sam hill is going on here?
As if anyone on here will be surprised by anything that happens in Washington ever again.............
I thought that NSA was not supposed to tap phone calls sent and received by citizens in the USA? Thus, was the tap of an international call? If Harmon made the call or received a call from someone in the USA isn’t the FBI responsible for the wiretap? What am I missing here?
A ‘RAT... nothing to see here, move along, folks.
Sounds like an admission to me.
The story fails to mention she is Jewish.
All partisan ship aside, it makes me ill to think of stories being released detailing (NSA???() taped conversations of our Congress people
Who authorized this ????????
Unless they are talking to overseas terrorists!!!!
Isn’t that what the patriot act was supposed to be confined to???? What the Sam Hill is going on in this country?
Maybe this will wake up some of the so-called liberal intelligentsia who never realized what a hard left radical regime is capable of
A canard? A canard, you say! Harrumph!
Culture of corruption...
The NSA unambiguously can and does listen in on calls originating outside the United States, without the need of a warrant.
Every country in the world, including Sweden, Switerland and Canada monitor international communications in and out of their countries. It’s only in the United States that anyone makes a fuss about it.
Indeed, that is THE major item of interest in this story. It's interesting to speculate about who and why.
If I had to guess, I'd say this was meant to damage Jane Harman directly. Why, and for whom? Is it a question of Obama's team wanting somebody more to their liking in that post? Is there friction between Harman and Nancy Pelosi?
I have to think that the timing is not accidental. My guess is that there's an Obama connection here. It's probably tied to Obama's extremely unwise decision to release the "CIA torture memos," perhaps it's their strategy to clean out those who opposed this (and other) actions.
Harman is hopelessly liberal, but she's actually not all that unreasonable as the Intel chair -- I can see her getting crossways with The 0ne.
I don't believe that is a black-and-white issue. If a foreigner living in the US is a known contact of terrorists or anti-Americans overseas, their phone calls can/should also be tapped. And if a sitting congressman is in contact with said foreigner...oops.
The story alleges that then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales compelled the FBI to end the investigation in return for Harman defending the administration's wiretapping program.
Harmon is just being thrown under the bus for pissing off Pelosi.
She was (supposedly) talking to an Israeli agent who was outside the United States. Whether or not he was a terrorist, he was trying to get more lenient treatment for a convicted Israeli agent. It does say which agent, but Jonathan Pollard sold the Israelis very sensitive information about U.S. strategic nuclear defenses, which the Israelis traded to the Soviets for the release of Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel. I am about as pro-Israeli as any gentile, but I find this to be a despicable betrayal by an ally we have stood by when the easy thing to do would have been to embrace her enemies who sit on most of the world's petroleum reserves.
the story does not say she was talking to an overseas caller
If all the Congress calls are being mined by a federal agency, then there would be ample blackmail material to keep everyone in line - who would be the recipient of this program data and who would have ability to control it...or use it... Maybe not even the supposed “executive office”
This reads like it happened under Bush
WTF
Presumably the agent was in Israel, or if in the US was established as regularly being involved in intelligence work for Israel.
What we are seeing is a civil war within the Democrat party, between the pro-Israel faction and the pro-Islamic faction, with Obama being on the anti-Israel side. The pro-Islamic side's plan is to throw Israel to the wolves over Iran, and they don't want any pro-Israel Democrats to side with the Republicans to protect Israel.
That said, I don't like AIPAC being involved in espionage against the US on US soil, and trying to buy protection from Congress.
Apparently she is pro Israel, which is better that being
pro the other side.
Did you miss the part where her conversation was with a suspected Israeli agent?
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