Harman responds to CQ: Report ‘recycles three year-old descredited reporting.’
Harman responds to CQ: Report ‘recycles three year-old descredited reporting.’
Rep. Jane Harman’s (D-CA) office issued a statement this afternoon responding to a story by CQ’s Jeff Stein, which reports that the NSA caught Harman offering a quid pro quo to unnamed Israeli agents in return for their help in becoming House Intelligence Committee chair. The report also said that then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stopped an FBI investigation into Harman’s quid pro quo deal because he needed her help to sell the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. Harman’s statement denies the report and deflects blame onto the Bush administration for wiretapping a Member of Congress:
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.
Harman’s statement appears not to have fully addressed the issue regarding Gonzales, simply stating that the Department of Justice “has never informed her that she was or is the subject of or involved in an investigation.” This, of course, leaves open the possibility that an official from another executive department or a member of Congress told her of the case.
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April 20th, 2009 at 2:53 pmCongresswoman 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.
More weasel words. She could have been contacted unofficially, by any number of officials, and since it wasn’t an official notice, she can lie about it with complete safety.
April 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pmThe timing of her responses and the fact that she backed bush’s spying leaves me to question her.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pmSomething smells.
What the…? Yes please investigate.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pmBUSH SHOULD GO TO JAIL!!!!!!
This is nothing more than political backlash from the the sore losers Republicant’s. I betcha NSA only wiretapped all Democrats? Fat Boy Gonzales set her up and than used her.
THIS IS PURE BULLSHYT
April 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pmthat 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.
I find this, among other things, very objectionable. What right does AIPAC have to declare ANYONE in OUR Congress either suitable or unsuitable. This is and has been a long standing problem.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:04 pmJane gots some serious splainin to do…
April 20th, 2009 at 3:05 pmFit her for black & white stripes…Beto too…
April 20th, 2009 at 3:05 pmI think she`ll look good in an orange jumpsuit along the Bush crime family members!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:12 pmWhen my daughter was two, I heard similar arguments defending herself….
April 20th, 2009 at 3:15 pmIt’s sad when the blue team parses words in Bush like fashion. Tell the truth, woman!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:16 pmShe has been a corrupt weasel for a long time.No skin off my you know what if she is put in the clink for the rest of her life.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:17 pmWhy does another news report say?
Rep. Jane Harman, the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Influence Peddling 101
April 20th, 2009 at 3:17 pmCongresswoman 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.
Please note the first deflection: the story is about a quid pro quo offered to AIPAC if they would lobby Pelosi on her behalf, NOT that she contacted the Justice Department directly. I’m also quite certain that the Justice Department doesn’t immediately inform those they are investigating, so her second statement about them not notifying her of such is meaningless. However, obviously Gonzales became aware, thanks to the NSA (legal?) wiretap on AIPIC of her offer, and she was easily controlled at that point.
On Dec. 21, 2005, in the midst of a firestorm of criticism about the wiretaps, Harman issued a statement defending the operation and slamming the Times, saying, “I believe it essential to U.S. national security, and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.”
And pray tell me…how could she have defended the “program” in the above statement, and now says “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.” So I guess it’s okay with her if the NSA spies on us regular Americans, but she draws the line at where SHE sits?
April 20th, 2009 at 3:23 pm…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.
I agree with aquarius2. This is a problem. AIPAC’s opinion on who should do what in our government is absolutely meaningless. I wish someone could tell me the truth about our country’s official support of AIPAC and Israel. Why do we do it? Why do we kow-tow to whatever AIPAC wants? Why do we turn a blind eye to Israel’s military activities that, at times, violate international law?
Why is what Israel wants more important than what American citizens want?
April 20th, 2009 at 3:24 pm“was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee”
call me crazy but wouldn’t this be an act of treason…
April 20th, 2009 at 3:27 pmEmanuel took Obama to last years AIPAC meeting.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:28 pmI think that Jane Harmon is much more than a shill for the Israeli government. I believe that she is an unregistered agent/lobbyist and a traitor. As an elected representative of the U.S. government she is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemiess, foreign and domestic. Israel has a long history of spying on us and accidently attacking our ships and planes. They are no friend of this country, despite the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that they receive every year. For many, many years I believed in Israel’s right to exist in the Middle East, however, after seeing their treatment of the Palastinian people, I’m not so sure, anymore. Penning the Palastinians up in the Gaza Strip, severely restricting their movements and bulldozing the homes of “suspected terrorists” sounds much like the treatment that the Jews received in the Warsaw Ghetto and throughout Europe during WWII. After listening to their right-wing government’s anti-peace ravings I believe that Israel has become that which they have hated–authoritarian,xenophobic bullies.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:32 pmWHOA! Time for someone to call it a career!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:33 pmbuu..buuttt…but israel is our good friend: whose government sends spies to spy on us. sweeeeeeettttt!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:37 pmThis thread is about Jane Harman not about President Obama or Rahm Emanual.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pmAnd about Rep. Harman. That byatch has got to go. Does anybody know where her district is?
April 20th, 2009 at 3:44 pmThinkProgress,
Would you consider adopting a policy of identifying which district Representatives come from when mentioning them in any thread? The district number would be good enough. In this case, you could identify her as “(D-CA 36)”. It would save us the trouble of looking it up. Thanking you in advance, WAS.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:49 pmHer district includes Venice Beach and Torrance. I think they vote for her because she’s the Democrat. She’s considered one of the few blue dog Democrats not from the south.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:03 pmThe Non-denial denial LIVES!
My gawd, what a feculent bag of reeking, lying, venal, traitorous piece of shit…
nothing about her record or her politics inspires confidence that she could actually be telling anything resembling the truth…
April 20th, 2009 at 4:08 pmFergus – For many, many years I believed in Israel’s right to exist in the Middle East, however, after seeing their treatment of the Palastinian people, I’m not so sure, anymore
I, too, supported Israel for a long time. But over the years, I’m not sure either. Frankly, I also feel that they have become like the very people who threatened their own existence. I really don’t know why so many members of Congress continue to have this overwhelming loyalty to Israel, and it appears to be equal on both sides of the aisle. And next Monday, the first U.N. conference in 8 years to address the issue of racism will NOT have a delegation from the U.S. And why? Because of criticism of Israel for their treatment of the Palestinians in the draft document.
This article was in this morning’s NYT on page A-7.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/world/20nations.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=concerns%20keep%20u.s.%20from%20talks%20on%20racism&st=cse
And today delegates from the E.U. walked out of the meeting in protest of statements made by the Iranian President regarding Israel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/world/21geneva.html?hp
There will NEVER be peace between Israel and Palestine or in the rest of the middle-east until the truth is addressed honestly and people act as honest brokers in the situation.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pmWinddancer, the unfortunate thing about the conference is that the only people who get the headlines are the extremists, be they Israeli, Palastinian, Arabic, Persian or, sadly, American. No low-key, rational thinkers ideas will get the time of day in the U.N., so it’s just a big waste of time and money.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:42 pmSeemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”
Didn’t she support Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program?
April 20th, 2009 at 4:47 pmAs a former Security Manager in the military, according to DOD Instructions (which are guided by executive branch instructions), any time you SUSPECT someone has mishandled classified material or SUSPECT someone of being a SECURITY RISK their security clearance and access to classified material should be revoked.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pmCan anyone claim Harman isn’t at least one if not both?
Pull her clearance and take away her access.
And get her off any security related committes.
Except that the wiretap caught her discussing direct quid-pro-quo, using her Congressional powers to benefit an outside party who could lobby to increase her Congressional position. That’s called being a mole.
It’s worth noting that the wiretap on here was court-approved, and that the investigation followed all of the appropriate rules established for separation of powers.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:16 pmNot to worry, Obama and Pelosi will rush to the rescue. You can curse God, bash Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, blaspheme Jesus, parody the pledge of allegiance and urinate on the Constitution, but you’d better not criticize AIPAC.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:21 pmLook at the stats. AIPAC and Israel are running the Middle East US foreign policy, and may just be running the Obama economic team.
Look at who was arrested on 9/11/01.
http://911research.wtc7.net/sept11/israelispys.html
Just a side note, I have not seen that NeoLiberal wanna-be Trotsky-ite dunce Dr Hussein Matt or what ever his name is, spilling garbage, now that there are dents appearing in Obama’s armor.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:44 pmWhat she and OUR government did was aiding in a crime, it’s worse than what blago did.
This pisses me off, she is a israeli spy. Gawd, get the f with it.
I checked, Israel is not our 51st state. How in hell can they manipulate our government? GTFOOH israel.
We must hold gonzo, harman and our government accountable for their manipulation and playing games with israel.
israel had better change for the better or they will be their own destruction. Invasion, lying, stealing, basically, the chimpy doctrine is a dangerous and out date.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:51 amJane Harmon or Alberto Gonzales.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:47 amI don’t know who is the bigger scumbag in this situation.
And politicians wonder why people are so disgusted by politics and Washington deal making.
I think that the city planners knew exactly what the were doing when they built Washington on the site of a stinking and fetid swamp.
MEANWHILE………….
On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.
Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments – not direct federal dollars.
April 21st, 2009 at 7:29 amMore like a 60 something year old liar.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:37 amWhat dstankass…no answer for what I posted on #35? Looks like your Anti-American…Liberal Politicians are at it again. Just crooks is all they are.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:28 amCBS News has learned that this month, Murtha is steering new earmarks toward 10 companies that recently donated to his campaign.
Murtha wants $8 million for Argon ST, a defense contractor whose CEO gave Murtha the maximum allowed by law – $2,400 by an individual. He’s directing a $5 million earmark toward Advanced Acoustic Concepts, which also gave the max – $5,000 for a political action committee – to his campaign. In all, 10 recent Murtha donors are slated to receive $31 million in Murtha earmarks for 2010.
DemocRATs
April 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am