Although Congresswoman Jane Harman's bold challenge to the Department of Justice to "bring on the tapes" is getting most of the attention from this interview, another thing that stands out is her defense that she didn't need to cut a deal with AIPAC because they were already such good friends. This segment from the MSNBC transcript starts at 2:46 on the video:
ANDREA MITCHELL: … so a well-known and very
strong and very politically powerful pro-Israel lobby, and that you
were either offering to intervene on behalf of these AIPAC lobbyists
who were under investigations for espionage, in exchange for their help
in getting you the chairmanship.HARMAN: Well, I’ve had a long friendship
with AIPAC. I didn’t need to cut some deal with AIPAC for any reason. I
talk to them, I talk to lots of advocacy groups and constituency groups
all the time, about a range of issues.And it was
certainly no secret in 2005 and 2006 that I hoped to be named chair of
the House Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections. I believed
that I had been promised that in writing by the Democratic leadership.
And I was disappointed not to get it.But lots of groups
contacted me and asked whether they could be helpful in some way. But
no deals were cut with any groups for any reason, ever.MITCHELL:
Did you recall a conversation where you offered to intervene on behalf
of these AIPAC lobbyists who were under investigation for espionage?HARMAN:
Well, I — I’m not sure what the chronology is, Andrea, but I think all
these allegations occurred after these AIPAC people were indicted. I
read in the newspaper that they were indicted in March of 2005, and I
don’t think anyone is claiming that I somehow did any of this stuff
before that.So I really don’t know what I might have said to good friends. If there are tapes out there, bring it on.
Harman's first answer backs up the reporting by F.E. Felson on this site. It also seems to intimate that she was already so close to AIPAC that she had no reason to cut a deal with them – their quid pro quo was already set.
