California congresswoman Jane Harman was obviously picking her moment to take her stand this morning. At the end of a panel discussion about Middle East issues, she spoke of the recent reports that she was picked up in a gov't wiretap four years ago offering to do her part to kill an indictment of two Israel lobbyists in return for help from an unnamed "suspected Israeli agent" on the other end of the line in pushing her committee fortunes with Nancy Pelosi.
Harman's specific opening was a question about optimism re the Middle East, from Dan Senor, the longtime lobbyist and tv analyst.
"My optimism has been tested in recent weeks," Harman said, to cheers, then said she wanted to say a few words in "seriousness" and to "waddle into a little conversation for a minute about the present." Waddling in being her term of art in quotes offered from the wiretap. Her sense of humor is intact.
She then made four points. That the Wall Street Journal editorial page is on the side of the angels, something she wouldn't have said before. Yes, well the Jewish community is moving right with Israel.
Second, that she has written to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to release the wiretaps in full, "anything… bearing on my alleged situation. I want it all out there, I want it in public, I want everyone to understand, including me, what has happened."
Third, she has long worked on constitutional issues. "I know about the Constitution, I believe in the Constitution, I believe in the Fourth Amendment. I never ever supported warrantless wiretaps on Americans." She said that the case will have "a chilling effect on hardworking bipartisan members of Congress who care intensely about the US-Israel relationship." These folks have "every right to talk to advocacy groups and good friends about that relationship."
Finally she said that Sidney Harman was sitting in the audience, and "his wife is not a victim, but his wife is a warrior on our constitution and abuse of power. I will not quit on this till I am certain that this will not happen to anyone else."
Yes, let's get it out there. The reference to victim picked up a statement she made earlier in her speech, that her father escaped the Holocaust.
