From CQ Politics:
House Select Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes has told the panel’s staff to begin investigating an incident in which Rep. Jane Harman was recorded on a wiretap talking with a suspected Israeli agent . . .
“In the
context of the Harman incident, the committee is looking into the
issue, including NSA involvement, as well as any other matter directly
related to the committee’s jurisdiction over the intelligence
community,” committee spokeswoman Courtney Littig said.
Also, Jeff Stein continues to leak tidbits and corrections to the story he helped kick off. Late last night he posted to the Spy Talk blog that Pelosi had not been informed about the Harman wiretap as part of routine official protocol, but as a CIA end run around Alberto Gonzales:
Intelligence officials, angry that former Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales had blocked an FBI investigation into Democratic Rep.
Jane Harman’s interactions with a suspected Israeli agent, tipped off
Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, that Harman had been picked
up on a court-ordered National Security Agency wiretap targeting the agent.In doing so, the officials flouted an order by Gonzales not to inform Pelosi, three former national security officials said.
The story continues:
A well-placed source said an official from the CIA had gone
around Gonzales to inform Pelosi about Harman being picked up on the
wiretap . . .On April 19 Congressional Quarterly reported that
the FBI was poised to question Harman about the telephone call and her
interactions with the suspected Israeli agent when Gonzales intervened,
telling then-CIA Director Porter Goss, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller
III and National Intelligence chief John D. Negroponte not to brief
Pelosi, according to three former national security officials.Goss, Mueller and Negroponte have declined to comment on CQ’s story.
Gonzales told Goss that he “needed Jane’s help” in defending
the administration’s warrantless wiretap program, which was about to be revealed by The New York Times, in December 2005.Frustrated and angry at Gonzales for aborting the
investigation, intelligence officials let Pelosi know about the wiretap
and its contents, according to the three former national security
officials.“She knew. We made sure she knew,” said one of the former officials, chuckling.
