I think they should have slapped the cuffs on her. Why? According to Congressional Quarterly’s Jeff Stein, [now retired] Rep. Jane Harman (D – California), long involved in intelligence issues and who pushed for warrantless wiretapping of Americans, was caught in her own net on a NSA wiretap (oh the irony!) telling a suspected Israeli agent she would lobby the Department of Justice to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC is the top pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the transcript. According to the sources, in exchange for Harman’s help, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win. According to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman, apparently wary of the meaning of her promise, hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.” Apparently, people familiar with the details are saying she “completed” a crime. Indictment coming?
Selling out the US is serious business. So where’s the media? Where’s the Blagojevich-style outcry? Unfortunately, this huge story isn’t getting much air. Does anyone else out there think that Harman’s quid pro quo promise to bail out people indicted for spying on the US is just a little newsworthy? Doesn’t it merit a little scrutiny that a Member of Congress of the United States of America who took an oath to uphold our constitution was prepared to sell us out to get the power-position she coveted? (Thankfully she didn’t get it – we don’t need another Jonathon Pollard.) Why isn’t this story top news?