Why Would Harman Violate The Law?
By podcasts@redstate.com (Redstate Network) on National Security
Did Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, violate the law in a scheme to retain her committee assignment?
The FBI and Justice Department prosecutors want to know. The law enforcement agencies are investigating Harman to determine whether the California Democratic congresswoman and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) violated the law in getting wealthy supporters to lobby House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Harman's behalf. The campaign to support Harman for the leadership post came amid media reports that Pelosi might replace Harman with another Representative.
Read on.
TIME reports the lobbying for Harman included a phone call from entertainment industry billionaire and major Democratic party contributor, Haim Saban, who made much of his fortune with the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Saban has contributed to Harman's campaign and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, which he sponsors at the left-wing Brookings Institution, considers Harman among its biggest fans. It's a mutual admiration society:
"When the Saban Center talks, I listen," Harman said at a Saban Center briefing in February on U.S. strategy in Iraq. Harman quipped that, in order to attend the session at Brookings, she had to "blow off" a senior intelligence official's appearance before a House committee.
According to TIME, the Harman investigation is looking into whether there was "an illegal quid-pro-quo:"
The sources say the probe also involves whether, in exchange for the help from AIPAC, Harman agreed to help try to persuade the Administration to go lighter on the AIPAC officials caught up in the ongoing investigation.
Harman said Thursday that any investigation of, or allegation of improper conduct by her would be "irresponsible, laughable and scurrilous." Right, so laughable that Harman hired GOP super lawyer Ted Olson, who says Harman isn't aware of the investigation.
Why would Harman violate the law in a scheme to get reappointed as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee? What's the motivation? Could it simply be a lust for power? Or could there be some more nefarious motive? Could her motivation be that if she was no longer on the House intelligence committee she would no longer have access to reports she could leak?
Harman took it upon herself to release an internal committee summary of the Cunningham probe. Committee chairman, Peter Hoekstra, has finally had enough of Harman's "continuing and unauthorized releases of information received and maintained by the Committee."
The FBI's Harmon investigation is a spin-off of a probe that has already led to charges and a conviction under the Espionage Act. Two AIPAC lobbyists, were indicted on felony counts of conspiring with government officials to receive classified information they were not authorized to have access to and providing national defense information to people not entitled to receive it. A former Defense Intelligence Agency official, Lawrence A. Franklin, received a 12 and a half year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty.
Perhaps the FBI's investigation of Harman will prevent the future leaking of classified information such as the misleading portion of the National Intelligence Estimate and the existence of the formerly secret terrorist surveillance program. Probably not, but can always hope.
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