Democratic Underground - Gonzales ‘blocked prosecution of Democrat who helped keep lid on wiretapping story’

...SNIP...

Quoting former senior Bush Administration officials, the article also alleges that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conspired to drop criminal action against the then-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Jane Harman (D-CA) because she’d helped persuade the New York Times from publishing details about the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program in 2004.

"According to two officials privy to the events, Gonzales said he “needed Jane” to help support the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be exposed by the New York Times.

Harman, he told Goss, had helped persuade the newspaper to hold the wiretap story before, on the eve of the 2004 elections. And although it was too late to stop the Times from publishing now, she could be counted on again to help defend the program.

He was right.

On Dec. 21, 2005, in the midst of a firestorm of criticism about the wiretaps, Harman issued a statement defending the operation and slamming the Times, saying, “I believe it essential to U.S. national security, and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.”

According to a purported NSA transcript of the call between Harman and a suspected Israeli agent — which the article says was tapped legally under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and not part of the warrantless wiretapping program itself — Harman “was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference.”

“In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win,” Stein added.

Harman allegedly hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

More...

http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/20/gonzales-blocked-prosecution-of-democrat-who-helped-keep-lid-on-wiretapping-story/

Wow...:wow:

Harman, of course, is denying any of this. However, the article goes on to state that the transcripts support the allegations against her.

BTW: This is my congress-critter...OUCH!

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