A watchdog group wants the independent congressional ethics office to investigate Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., after a report in Congressional Quarterly cited unnamed former National Security Administration officials saying that Harman – once a contender House Intelligence Committee chair – tried to dissuade a Justice Department investigation into two former American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) employees.
According to CQ’s sources, Harman was taped by federal investigators entering into a deal in which she would attempt to get reduced charges for the two employees in exchange for the group trying to persuade the Democratic leadership to hand her the Intel chairmanship. At the time, in 2005, she served as the top Democrat on the committee but was not particularly close to soon-to-be-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The CQ story (available online to subscribers only) goes on to say that the Justice Department investigation into Harman’s actions was dropped by the Bush Justice Department because then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales believed Harman was needed in office, ironically, to help defend the federal wiretapping laws that were coming under heavy scrutiny and criticism.
“Rep. Harman may have committed bribery and may have violated House rules prohibiting members from engaging in ex parte communications with executive or independent agency officials on the merits of matters under their formal consideration, failure to uphold the Code of Ethics for Government Service, and acting in a manner that does not reflect creditably on the House,” read a statement Tuesday from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Harman Monday issued a strong denial, saying she never contacted anyone in the Justice Department about the two AIPAC employees.
“The CQ Politics story simply recycles three year-old discredited reporting of largely unsourced material to manufacture a ‘scoop’ out of widely known and unremarkable facts – that Congresswoman Jane Harman is and has long been a supporter of AIPAC, and that some members of AIPAC regarded her as well-qualified to chair the House Intelligence Committee following the 2006 election,” read a statement from her office.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., caused a stir in 2006 by passing over Harman for chair. She instead picked Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.
