Pelosi Knew About Harman Wiretap

[sabra]

Source: Roll Call

The National Security Agency briefed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “a few years ago” that they had wiretapped Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), Pelosi revealed Wednesday.

But Pelosi said she was not told what federal eavesdroppers picked up on the call — and never alerted Harman to it.

“It was not my position to raise it with Jane Harman,” Pelosi told reporters at the Christian Science Monitor lunch. “In fact, I didn’t even know if what they were talking about was real. All they said was that she was wiretapped.”

...

“I have great confidence in Jane Harman,” Pelosi said. “She’s a patriotic American. She would never do anything to hurt her country.”

Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/news/34182-1.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Many people in the intelligence field waive the right to privacy. Harmon should have known better.

As a member of the intel committee I wonder if she waived this right as do many, many people in the intel community.

[Hoopla Phil]

2. Ohhh, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the info

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes. When you have certain clearances, you know it is possible to tap your phone, etc.

Like military folks, you waive some of your rights because your job is legally a privilege.

If congressional folks don't waive similar rights under similar circumstances, I'd like to know why. Why is she surprised?

[AZ Criminal JD]

23. They didn't tap her phone

They had a tap on the phone of a person she was talking to.

[formercia]

20. I used to tell my co-workers

that working for the CIA was like living in the Soviet Union. Especially for the first 3 years, they watch you like a hawk. If there's a paper or data base trail, they will find it. When I left,they told me that there was nothing left to tidy up since I made a point of not leaving a paper trail, not even a lease or rental agreement.
It's a 24/7/365 job.

[Demeter]

3. Nancy, Maybe It's Time You Resigned

before something worse happens to your record.

[Captain Hilts]

5. It's a risk Harmon takes as an Intel community member. It's not up to Pelosi

to approve, disapprove.

[onehandle]

6. Chris Matthews on Hardball last night said that this was common knowledge a few years back.

How can this be new news if it was"common knowledge?"

[ArmeniansForObama]

14. Chris Matthews was talking about other political stuff, not the wiretapping

[magellan]

7. So the NSA told Pelosi this and all she said was essentially, "Oh, okay"?

She didn't raise an eyebrow? Did she, as House Minority Leader, alert anyone to it?

Her statement as a whole is very unsettling. In her place, I'd want to know as much as possible about why a colleague in Harman's position on the Intel Committee was being wiretapped.

[Demeter]

8. Or (and this is stretching it) ANY US CITIZEN!

Pelosi the bureaucrat.

[sabra]

9. especially since the conversation was about Pelosi...

CQ has a new report...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/spytalk/2009/04/source-wiretap-caught-harman-d.html

Source: Wiretap Caught Harman Discussing Pelosi Fundraising Flap

California Democrat Jane Harman, battling a controversy over her interactions with a suspected Israeli spy, was overheard on a 2005 wiretap discussing a failed fundraising ploy designed to get her named chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to a former national security official who has read the transcript.

Harman was heard lamenting to the suspected Israeli agent how the tactics of a major Jewish fundraiser to use the threat of withholding political donations to California Democrat Nancy Pelosi to win Harman the gavel of the House Select Committee on Intelligence had badly backfired, the former official said.

...

Harman and the target of the NSA intercept mutually rued the tactics of Saban, a major Democratic donor, to influence Pelosi, said the former national security official.

The former official, who has provided accurate information on Harman's intercepted conversations, did so only on the condition of anonymity because the material remains highly classified.

In the wiretapped conversation, the target was heard telling Harman that "Pelosi went ballistic" when Saban allegedly warned her that if Harman were not made chairman of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections "'you'll get no more contributions from me,'" according to the former official's paraphrase of the conversation.

[EFerrari]

17. They had a warrant; the tap was legal.

But Nancy's standard reply seems to be "I didn't know".

[Captain Hilts]

18. As a member of the house Intel cmte. no doubt Harmon surrendered some aspects

of privacy, as most people with certain security clearances do.

[pam4water]

10. Why would they tell Pelosi? That doesn't make sences. You don't want leaks when are doing

a legitimate investigation. Pelosi is a complete fuck up for not doing anything about it. She knew some one in congress was being wire taped and she did do anything about it? I think we are still missing some of the facts on this cluster fuck. Did they tell Pelosi to intimidate her, i.e. we've got some stuff on Jane who knows what we got on you. The J. Edgar Hoover approach? Pelosi is old enough to remember J. Edgar and the "commie scare era". She should really know better. I guess she has no spine.

[Captain Hilts]

12. It's not up to her to do anything about it. nt

[sabra]

13. maybe because Harman was talking about Pelosi?

NSA giving Pelosi a little heads up? Just guessing...

[onehandle]

16. She sits two seats from the President.

The Speaker is told a lot of things that they cannot act on politically.

[bdamomma]

11. these two women are too fond of each other.

didn't Pelosi keep Harman from getting or trying to get that chairmanship.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. I have to wonder if they told her about the tap they had on HER phone.

The way she came on so strong at the outset, then turned around to become the designated appeaser, I suspect they did.

[cascadiance]

19. And if Pelosi knew about it, Senate Intelligence Cmtee chair Feinstein had to as well!...

... and therefore all the more reason someone needs to ask her if Feinstein DID know about it, and if so, WHY she was upset with Obama in picking Panetta over Jane Harman to head the CIA!!!

I wonder if its a big coincidence or not that Feinstein's dealings with her husband's business are being looked at now too.

[glitch]

24. Good Lord, I'd forgotten about that. Icky! nt

[ixion]

21. "She would never do anything to hurt her country"

Except, you know, help to re-(s)elect the worst pResident in US history. :puke:

Pelosi, you are only furthering the damage. You should resign and let someone who can do the job take your place.

[Frank Booth]

32. Also, except, you know, conspiring to help foreign spies.

[Duer 157099]

22. Jesus, it just keeps coming. I doubt Pelosi considered this when deciding about the Intel chair

Right? Wow.

Pelosi has some 'splaining to do, I think.

I bet Harman's pissed at her right now. Maybe Harman will hit back and tell us something about why impeachment was taken off the table?

[hootinholler]

25. Oh, that would be sweet!

How can we foment that?

-Hoot

[kpete]

26. Pelosi Said She Knew Harman Was Wiretapped

Source: Congressional Quarterly

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – INTELLIGENCE
April 22, 2009 – 1:40 p.m.
Pelosi Said She Knew Harman Was Wiretapped
By Edward Epstein, CQ Staff
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she was first informed in a confidential briefing a few years ago that Rep. Jane Harman had been recorded by spy agencies, but that she couldn’t tell Harman or anyone else about it.

Pelosi said the briefing from intelligence agencies was usual practice in the Capitol, where top congressional leaders are always told when a member of Congress pops up during the course of secret investigations.

Pelosi wouldn’t comment on the substance of the briefing about Harman.

“I was not in a position to raise it with Jane Harman . All they said was that she was wiretapped,” said Pelosi, who said she couldn’t remember if the secret briefing took place in 2005 or 2006.

“When you are briefed on something it isn’t your role to share it with anybody else,” said Pelosi, who served on the Intelligence Committee for a decade until she entered the House Democratic leadership about six years ago. “Even if I wanted to share it with her I would not have had the liberty to share it with her,” she added at a roundtable sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Congressional Quarterly reported April 19 that National Security Agency eavesdroppers heard Harman agreeing in 2005 to an appeal from a suspected Israeli agent to intervene in an effort to reduce espionage-related charges lodged against two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, Washington’s most powerful pro-Israel organization.


Read more: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003100474&cpage=1

[Ian David]

27. At least they didn't let Linda Tripp listen-in. n/t

[HereSince1628]

28. What is the point of Congressional oversight, if the Congress person is gagged afterwards?

I find this whole thing completely incomprehensible.

The evil one, whose name is Richard Cheney, depended upon gag rules to be able to proceed with his evil deeds.
Being gagged after being informed is completely counter to the concept of oversight.

[Tempest]

29. There was no need for oversight in this case

The wiretapping of people is legal if there is suspicions of a law being broken.

In this case, Harmon was talking with people under investigation on subject matter pertaining to the investigation.

This has been SOP for decades.

[HereSince1628]

30. Yes, I know. But what is the point in telling Congress? They are bound to silence

But, what if Pelosi had objected? There are several issues about the independence and equality of branches of the government in play.

[Igel]

33. Because the role of "oversight" isn't the same as "publicity".

If Pelosi is briefed, she's aware of what's going on--which is one aspect of oversight; she's also able to give advice to the agency, threaten it, cajole it, etc. It's possible to write legislation without the motivation of the legislation's being made public--the legislation is public, of course. It's also possible for Pelosi to call the prez up and say, "Hey, I was told about this and we've got to talk about it.'

The oversight role of Congress in some agencies is a sticking point with the unitary executive folks, because the intelligence (etc.) agencies are executive in nature and therefore part of the Executive branch--with the prez having all executive authority (not "most", not "some"). Yet the laws Congress passed give the various Congressional committees some authority, even though that's now how the Constitution was written. It's passed muster with SCOTUS, with a bit of hand waving and reinterpretation. Still, when it comes to things like the CIA, I think that the executive still has final say.

[ben_jenne]

31. Wasn't she also briefed, along with 30 or so

other congress people, on the CIA torture programs? When the full investigations happen a lot of people are going to get caught up in it.

That may be one reason it will never happen.

[Igel]

34. Why should they have alerted Harman?

I mean, did they alert Stevens when they picked up his call, or wait for the indictment? (Answer: Nope.)

And did people have a problem with that? (Answer: Nope.)

[fujiyama]

35. It wasn't Pelosi's responsibility to raise this issue with anyone

I don't understand how or why anyone believe Pelosi did anything wrong here. It seems sensible that the Speaker of the House would have more information available than other Representatives. The NSA may have just been giving her a head's up that something shady may have been going on with Harman. Then again, it's not even clear if Pelosi was formally briefed on this or if it was leaked.

And regardless, in this case there wasn't a chance in hell Pelosi was going to help Harman in any way. She hates her. I don't know the details or origins of the feud but it seems to go back quite a ways. They have an icy relationship and I remember the whole argument over who would get the Intel. Chairmanship. It was between Harman and Hastings I recall and Hastings had various legal and ethical issues.

I know many people here really hate her for not trying to impeach Bush, but she's kept the house in order much better than Reid.

Either way, this story is juicy because it contains great pure DC political theater. CA politics is a minefield and I've always been incredibly suspicious of both Harman (who was basically a Bush apologist on a lot of issues) and Feinstein, who has many questionable conflicts of interest of her own...

[Snazzy]

36. did the west coast funder cut her off?

Pelosi that is. Reyes, if I have it right from my quick wiki read that he's the one who got the intel chair, seems very non aipac dlc etc. Much to read tomorrow.