Gonzales ‘blocked prosecution of Democrat who helped keep lid on wiretapping story’

[Hepburn]

...SNIP...

Quoting former senior Bush Administration officials, the article also alleges that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conspired to drop criminal action against the then-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Jane Harman (D-CA) because she’d helped persuade the New York Times from publishing details about the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program in 2004.

"According to two officials privy to the events, Gonzales said he “needed Jane” to help support the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be exposed by the New York Times.

Harman, he told Goss, had helped persuade the newspaper to hold the wiretap story before, on the eve of the 2004 elections. And although it was too late to stop the Times from publishing now, she could be counted on again to help defend the program.

He was right.

On Dec. 21, 2005, in the midst of a firestorm of criticism about the wiretaps, Harman issued a statement defending the operation and slamming the Times, saying, “I believe it essential to U.S. national security, and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.”

According to a purported NSA transcript of the call between Harman and a suspected Israeli agent — which the article says was tapped legally under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and not part of the warrantless wiretapping program itself — Harman “was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference.”

“In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win,” Stein added.

Harman allegedly hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

More...

http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/20/gonzales-blocked-prosecution-of-democrat-who-helped-keep-lid-on-wiretapping-story/

Wow...:wow:

Harman, of course, is denying any of this. However, the article goes on to state that the transcripts support the allegations against her.

BTW: This is my congress-critter...OUCH!

[seemslikeadream]

1. and blackmail comes to mind

[WeDidIt]

2. She needs to be prosecuted

but the revelation is far more important.

The Bush administration was wire tapping Congress Critters, then blackmailing them.

[Hepburn]

3. I agree....

...if she was being blackmailed in regard to her performance as an elected office ~~ she NEEDED to come forward and do something about it.

Yes, it was the Bush Admin, but she has powerful allies in Calif who could have documented what was going on and then blown the lif off the entire sick mess. Jerry Brown, now the AG, comes to mind. He is fearless and most certainly would have helped her out.

JMHO

Edit for grammatical mistake.

[L. Coyote]

32. "Bush ...wire tapping Congress ... , then blackmailing them." That is the story here!!

More crimes for Gonzales and Bush is the story. One must ask, who else? Obama?

[Hepburn]

4. More:

Gonzales Stopped FBI Probe Of Rep. Harman Because He ‘Needed Jane’ To Support Warrantless Wiretapping

CQ’s Jeff Stein reports that sometime before the 2006 elections, the National Security Agency wiretapped Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) offering a quid pro quo to unnamed Israeli agents: Harman would lobby the Justice Department to “reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee,” while the Israelis would lobby soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to name Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee.

While this story has been previously reported, “what is new,” Stein reports, is the court-approved NSA wiretap. Previous reports also said that an investigation of Harman was dropped because of “lack of evidence.” However, Stein reports that one official “with first-hand knowledge” of the case “called that ‘bull****’” and that “according to knowledgeable officials,” it was actually then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who intervened on Harman’s behalf to stop the FBI’s investigation in exchange for her help selling the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretap program:

...SNIP...

But that’s when, according to knowledgeable officials, Attorney General Gonzales intervened. According to two officials privy to the events, Gonzales said he “needed Jane” to help support the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be exposed by the New York Times.

Harman, he told Goss, had helped persuade the newspaper to hold the wiretap story before, on the eve of the 2004 elections. And although it was too late to stop the Times from publishing now, she could be counted on again to help defend the program.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/20/gonzales-harman-nsa/

Not just blackmail, IMO, but she was angling for a benefit for herself by selling out our rights.

Wow...:wow:

[WeDidIt]

5. Now add Seymour Hirsch's article about Cheney Stay Behinds

and you get what these fucks are up to still!

[Hepburn]

7. I am telling ya...

...this whole thing, makes me feel like there is a ton of weight on my chest. Scares the hell out of me.

Yeah...put the two together and it is totally frightening as to what "our" government is doing to us.

:scared:

[blogslut]

6. What was Gonzo goint to prosecute her for?

The AIPAC espionage? I thought the Bush administartion was BFFs with AIPAC?

[Hepburn]

8. As I see it: Bribery ~~ Influence Peddling for Gain ~~ in this case

Rep. Jane Harman ... was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington. Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win. Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/04/caught-in-the-aipac.html

[blogslut]

13. So,

This goes back to the Larry Franklin case?

Interesting.

[Hepburn]

19. Some stuff from a local SoCal paper:

According to CQ, Justice Department officials determined that Harman had committed a "completed crime" in the wiretapped conversation. But the story does not make it clear what crime that would be. One of the anonymous sources hedges a bit on that at the end of the story:


"It's a story about the corruption of government -- not legal corruption necessarily, but ethical corruption."

http://www.insidesocal.com/southbay/2009/04/cq-feds-tape-harman-vowing-to.html

Here is a DU thread about this same subject:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2573404

:hi: Gets more curious as more shit comes out!

[blogslut]

21. The original CQ politics article

is what I have read:

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hsnews-000003098436

Yep. It goes back to Wilkerson and the aftermath of the AIPAC espionage scandal. Someone was trying to get Harman to use her influence to lessen charges against Steve Rosen - one of the two AIPAC operatives indicted along with Larry.

[Hepburn]

26. The facts, so far, most certainly support that conclusion.

I am just wondering why Harman who is pretty savvy would get involved with this. Dumb move, really dumb move.

Edit for typo.

[glitch]

14. "This conversation doesn't exist." sounds like she caught the make your own reality mental illness

from the neocons.

[L. Coyote]

33. So, the Israelis are telling Pelosi what to do now? I don't buy that.

[malaise]

9. She may well have been set up to be blackmailed

Now we know why the usual suspects were upset that Pelosi dropped her.
Bravo Nancy.

[Hepburn]

10. Set up by...????

Someone in Congress ... or ... the Israelis for some reason?

:hi:

[malaise]

20. or indeed a Bushco hack in AIPAC n/t

[BuyingThyme]

11. If this is true, she should face the death penalty.

[derby378]

17. I'd be happy with a life sentence

Let Harman watch as her co-conspirators have to face the gavel. She can't go that if she's pushing up daisies.

[Hepburn]

28. Just unbelievable to me that she ended the conversation with...

...the tag line about the conversation not having taken place.

Unreal...and totally disgusting!

[peace13]

12. You knew that it was blackmail.

Let's look at Pelosi and the rest of the gang. You don't sell your country and your grandchildren down the river without a big reason. I am sure that they will be able to tell us all about the blackmail done by Cheney and the gang.

[glitch]

16. With the bush gang you gotta know it wasn't just blackmail. Cheney's barely veiled threats on TV

about dirty bombs in American cities made it clear to me they were using any and all methods of intimidation.

[Fireweed247]

24. And you don't get to be Speaker of the House without having special friends to begin with

AIPAC put her in the position in the first place.

[Fireweed247]

25. Flashback: Pelosi & AIPAC to Kucinich: drop impeachment bid & you can keep your seat in Congress

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5496371&mesg_id=5496371

[BuyingThyme]

15. A couple important questions if anybody would care to help me out here:

First, we heard a couple weeks or so ago that a Congressperson had been targeted by the illegal NSA wiretaps. Did we ever learn who that was (previous to this article)?

Second, were there some good weekend threads on this? (Links please?)

Third, wholly fucking shit!

[Supersedeas]

31. I'm feeling option number 3

[Fireweed247]

18. ENOUGH- throw them all out!

Now we know what we have all suspected...AIPAC is controlling our Congress, Bushco was wiretapping Congress to blackmail them and they all knew that the illegal wiretapping was so wrong they needed to use their blackmail to get support for it.

They have been doing this sort of thing for years and now we know why our Congress is so corrupt. We need to throw them all out.

[spanone]

22. take down bu$hco and whoever it touches, take them too....C R I M I N A L S

i'm getting the sneaky suspicion that our entire government has been compromised.....not doom & gloom, reality.

[L. Coyote]

34. So, what do the puke spies have on Obama?

Because he sure is behaving like a blackmailed politician!

[cascadiance]

23. And Feinstein was upset Harman was passed over for head of CIA, and on attorney scandal...

... was the first to go after Bush admin for firing attonrneys for not "playing ball" with doing prosecutions of Democrats, but was also one to "cut the deal" for Mukasey to be approved... Huh?...

http://www.wowowow.com/post/sen-feinstein-hits-back-against-obamas-cia-pick-rep-jane-harman-passed-over-job-167674

It sounds like Feinstein has a lot to hide in this too, and her dealings with the Justice Department!

[peace13]

27. I think these folks actions over the years, open votes against the American people,

are pretty transparent. It's not hard to guess who might be on the take or delivering votes for dirty deeds. This is a sad day for America. If only Obama could get on board with the fact that true Americans want justice and a rule of law across the land. Today the crusty top gets away with murder and larceny with no ramifications while the youth and the poor land in jail for little of nothing in comparison. Unfortunately those of us who have been watching this for years need only remember our head bangings of disbelief over votes against America and wonder how it took this long for the media to pick up on it.

[Fireweed247]

29. kick

:kick:

[Kablooie]

30. You can get rid of Harman but please, don't denigrate Gonzales!

He was one of Bush's chosen elite and no one shall ever do anything negative to any of them.

That seems to be America's official policy.

Protect the top Bush criminals at all cost!