Congresswoman Blasts Government for Taping Her Phone Calls
U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., is demanding Justice Department transcripts of her wiretapped phone calls, telling the DOJ in a letter that she is outraged to learn of the secret eavesdropping in 2005 or 2006.
Harman’s demands follow a report in Congressional Quarterly that said Harman was recorded making a promise to lobby the Justice Department to reduce charges against two accused Israeli spies, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times. In exchange for the help, a suspected Israeli agent reportedly agreed to help Harman get appointed chairwoman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to CQ. She never got the appointment.
Harman reportedly told the suspected agent that lobbying Gonzales would be difficult, because he “just follows White House orders.”
CQ reported that Gonzales aborted an investigation of Harman because he needed her help defending the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. Harman’s conversations were picked up on a National Security Agency wiretap directed at Israeli covert action, the CQ story says.
Harman’s letter to the Justice Department read: “This abuse of power is outrageous and I call on your Department to release all transcripts and other investigative material involving me in an unredacted form.”
Harman has gone on a media offensive as well, appearing on CNN and NBC News, Bloomberg reports. “I am offended by it. It’s an abuse of power,” she told CNN.
The two suspected spies, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, were lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They were charged under an espionage law and accused of sharing information with colleagues and Israeli diplomats, but have not yet been tried, the Times story says. “The prosecution has had several setbacks, and the case is widely viewed as a problem child for the Justice Department,” the story says.
