Rep. Jane Harman, D-Venice, is denying that she agreed to lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage charges against two officials of a powerful pro-Israeli lobby in exchange for help landing the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee.
But current and former officials quoted in reports from Washington, D.C., say she was overheard making the offer on a National Security Agency wiretap and avoided being investigated only because then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez intervened, hoping she would defend the Bush Administration from criticism over its warrantless wiretap program.
Harman was overheard on the NSA wiretap speaking to a suspected Israeli agent about the case against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, Congressional Quarterly reported this week.
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