 Imagine for a moment that a sitting member of Congress had been caught in an NSA wiretap offering to obtain reduced sentences for a couple of Russian spies, or perhaps North Korean ones, in exchange for help getting the chairmanship the House Intelligence Committee of all things. The irony of that aside, the alarm over the idea that agents of a foreign government even thinking that they could influence appointments in Congress would by itself, evoke national outrage. And that member of Congress would be finished.
So, is Jane Harman finished? CQ Politics uncovered what looks like a double quid pro quo, only the spies are Israeli lobbyists for AIPAC, and Harman also got a free pass on the Justice Department investigation of her spy dealings by Alberto Gonzales, the felonious former attorney general, who thought her more useful to the administration as a Democratic booster for ... wait for it ... NSA illegal wiretapping. Oh, the irony. Something Torquemada has yet to deny...
Harman is now demanding ... demanding! ... the release of the wiretaps on which she was caught. But as a former supporter of warrantless wiretapping (at least in her case there was a warrant,) shouldn't she actually be praising the inquiry?Labels: AIPAC, House of Representatives, Israel lobby, Jane Harman, NSA, scandals, spying, wiretapping |
