Jane Harman Starts Fighting Back



There are weasel words at work here, of course. In the intercept transcripts, Harman never said she was going to intercede with the Justice Department, but rather with other officials. Now, she says she never contacted anyone in the White House, or with anyone. Then why, in the intercept transcripts, did she promise to contact people?

It's not really a surprise she got picked up on a NSA wiretap, as opposed to an FBI wiretap. Transnational lobbyists, like some of those working for AIPAC, would be obvious targets for an NSA investigation.

The irony, of course, is that Harman always gave the benefit-of-the-doubt to the Bush Administration on wiretapping matters, against the warnings of free speech liberals who said that there weren't sufficient limitations on what the Bushies were doing with their out-of-control wiretapping. And she ended up basically held hostage to the Bush Administration's mercies, ending up giving her support to the Bushies in exchange for the Bushies keeping her out of jail.

Maybe this will start opening a few eyes on Capitol Hill. Because Congress people are the most-obvious, biggest, fattest, juiciest targets of the surveillance state that we've erected since 2001.