In politics, as in comedy, timing is everything, which is why it's so interesting that the ersatz national security controversy in which Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) suddenly finds herself enmeshed has boiled over -- three years after the fact.
According to a story that appeared Sunday in Congressional Quarterly, much of which was subsequently reported by the New York Times, the National Security Agency in 2005 or 2006 intercepted a telephone conversation between Harman and an alleged Israeli agent who was the target of a U.S. government investigation. Neither publication has transcripts, but relying on sources, both reported that the Westside congresswoman -- then the ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee -- agreed to intercede with the Bush administration on behalf of two pro-Israeli lobbyists charged with espionage for allegedly receiving classified information and passing it to Israeli officials and American journalists.
In return for this intervention, the alleged intelligence agent said he would pressure then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) into naming Harman chair of the intelligence panel. He promised to do so by having one of Pelosi's major campaign donors -- reportedly Beverly Hills entertainment magnate Haim Saban -- withhold contributions unless Harman received the appointment.
Harman denies any inappropriate actions, let alone a quid pro quo, and Tuesday sent an angry letter to Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. demanding that the full transcripts be released.
As a scandal, there are all sorts of things about this that don't make sense: The FBI's then-head of counterintelligence emphatically says Harman never intervened on behalf of the lobbyists. Harman never became chairwoman. And Saban -- who happens to be a major donor to Democrats and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for which the two lobbyists worked -- went on giving to both the Venice congresswoman and to Pelosi.
So what's really going on?
--- (snip of some incredible "they dropped the ball on this investigation" details)-----
No wonder President Obama's Justice Department may be looking for a way out of this prosecution. Now the question is: Who would drag Harman, Pelosi and Saban into this faux scandal to prevent such an exit?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rutten22-2009apr22,0,7489531.story
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