Happy October! (Surprised Yet?)

My goodness - yesterday the Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee suspended a Dem staffer for having requested a look at the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq a few days before it was leaked.  Of course, the report had been widely circulated and the Times claimed many sources, but that doesn't mean this staffer (Larry Hanauer) was *not* a source.  Accusation first, evidence (if any) to follow.

As a second surprise, a book is now out claiming that a once-secret Soviet memo from 1983 documented an attempt by Sen. Ted Kennedy to enlist the head if the USSR in an anti-Reagan public relations effort.  Whoa!  Who are these people that claim to be our leaders and hope to regain the Senate majority?  (Well, at least no one drowned when that memo was written...)

And TIME is reporting more comedy from the "Democratic House Intelligence" side - the ranking Dem, Jane Harman, may be under investigation for engaging in politics.  No, seriously:

Did a Democratic member of Congress improperly enlist the support of a major pro-Israel lobbying group to try to win a top committee assignment? That's the question at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, who are examining whether Rep. Jane Harman of California and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) may have violated the law in a scheme to get Harman reappointed as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, according to knowledgeable sources in and out of the U.S. government.

The sources tell TIME that the investigation by Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has simmered out of sight since about the middle of last year, is examining whether Harman and AIPAC arranged for wealthy supporters to lobby House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Harman's behalf. Harman said Thursday in a voicemail message that any investigation of — or allegation of improper conduct by — her would be "irresponsible, laughable and scurrilous." On Friday, Washington GOP super lawyer Ted Olson left voicemail messages underscoring that Harman has no knowledge of any investigation. "Congresswoman Harman has asked me to follow up on calls you've had," Olson said. "She is not aware of any such investigation, does not believe that it is occurring, and wanted to make sure that you and your editors knew that as far as she knows, that's not true... . No one from the Justice Department has contacted her." It is not, however, a given that Harman would know that she is under investigation. In a follow-up phone call from California, Olson said Harman hired him this morning because she takes seriously the possibility of a media report about an investigation of her, even though she does not believe it herself.

The criminal is always the last to know!  The investigation centers around Harman's effort to save her seniority and derail the appointment of Alcee Hastings as Chairman as part of a Nancy Pelosi deal:

Around mid-2005, the [AIPAC-Larry Franklin] investigation expanded to cover aspects of Harman's quiet but aggressive campaign to persuade House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to reappoint her to the prestigious position on the House intel panel. The alleged campaign to support Harman for the leadership post came amid media reports that Pelosi had soured on her California colleague and might name Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida, himself a major supporter of Israel, to succeed Harman.

The sources say the probe also involves whether, in exchange for the help from AIPAC, Harman agreed to help try to persuade the Administration to go lighter on the AIPAC officials caught up in the ongoing investigation. If that happened, it might be construed as an illegal quid pro quo, depending on the context of the situation. But the sources caution that there has been no decision to charge anyone and that it is unclear whether Harman and AIPAC acted on the idea.

Unless a lot more comes out, I have no doubt that on Nov 8 I will deplore this leak of an ongoing non-investigation.  But right now, this is not scoring that high on my Wilson-Fitzgerald Meter.

Comments

[kate]

The global left has a vision of world rule by the international elites. They are convinced that will lead to a new enlightenment. They believe the left medial, legal, policy, academic types are superior and should govern the world and control the masses with handouts and perks.

They are frustrated that the United States stands in the way of this socialist world governance, which is why they are always on the side of the US enemies.

[Syl]

davis

What's with all the retired military officers running for the Democrats?

Cook (of the Cook report) was on CSPAN the other day (with Daschle at the AEI) and he said the new folks running for Dem seats are third choices.

The Dems tried to recruit candidates with money. Except for Lamant, nobody was really interested. Then they tried to recruit local candidates who had run for political office in their states before and had a proven track record of getting votes. They rejected the offers too.

So the new candidates the Dems have this go-round are basically third choices, so says Cook anyway.

That's how fired up the Dems were to challenge the Reps. Heh.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I was awake almost all night and now my cold has flared up, so I just hauled my sorry self out of bed and find 3 new JOM threads. This one already a mile long. So, I've scanned it quickly and apologize if this has be covered.

Clarice -- when I cited the Time article in my Hanauer post yesterday, I noted that Time has accuracy problems and the article should be taken with a grain of salt. I went back in later and added an update that said in essence that Clarice Feldman's take on the story: "It is Poppycock." So, I left the link, but added two caveats.

Geek -- you are conflating two people and two events. The LaHood quote is from the referral letter from LaHood to Hoekstra giving Hoekstra a heads up. He is saying that there is suspicion and too much coincidence for his taste and throwing it to Hoekstra for investigation. Now Hoekstra, in his interviews stated yesterday that this investigation has been underway for several days, and that he is confident with the information they have gathered (but unrevealed at this point) that the right steps of suspending Hanauer and barring him from seeing classified information is the right step. So do not conflate the two. One was to introduce the problem to Hoekstra, the other was Hoekstra's response after looking into the matter.

In other words, there is enough there there to warrant suspending Hanauer from access. The guy is still drawing full pay and has not lost his job, just his security clearance.

[Syl]

JMH

Barring a viable Republican challenger in Harman's district, where's the strategic (or legislative) advantage to Republicans in a Harman ouster?

Well, the business with the staffer opened the whole Harman is being targetted by Pelosi worms!

Reminding Reps that the Dems leak national security info will simply get more Reps to the polls.

But showing the electorate dirty politics being played by Dems against one of their own means there will be little surprise if Harman at some point in the future decides to turn Rep...though I'm not sure that would happen.

It's like the Lieberman thing and makes it obvious that the left/progressive wing is attempting a coup inside the party.

It makes centrist Dems nervous. It delights Reps.

It also shows citizens WHO Pelosi is since most haven't even heard of her (and she's being very very very quiet this election cycle so that they continue to be in the dark.)

Now Pelosi is outed, so to speak. :)

[PeterUK]

Since Hanauer has not lost his job or his income,merely had his security lifted,what is the problem? Any institution or business would do the same if an employee was under suspicion,it is standard practice.

[clarice]

Exactly, Syl.

Well, PUK, that's true, but to date the Reps have donw nothing but whine and as I said earlier, the law makes such prosecutions in the US almost impossible.
It would be a good idea to redo the 1917 law but in the present climate---good luck with that.(You'd have to yank the Dems from their cell phone calls to AQ to get them to vote on it.)

[Patton]

""Sue, the aide doesn't need to prove his innocence; the committee chair needs to provide evidence of his guilt. """

THAT IS NOT TRUE!

Having a security clearance is a privilege, not a right, and can be removed for suspicion alone. It could also be suspended for hundreds of other non-criminal reasons.

I love how liberals just fly off the handle with the most ridiculous claims..as if they never actually worked in the National Security arena.

[boris]

But Patton, it voilates his right to work. If he has no clearance how can he leak secrets?

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Patton, these are children who live in a soundbite world of video games and think the intelligence services are another episode of "24" and that at the end of 45 minutes and a few commercial breaks, Jack Bauer will save the day. They have no conception of what it takes to run a government, any government, whether the United States or rebuilding an entire country, all its infrastructure and every one of its government ministeries. To them, intelligence secrets are no more important than telling a buddy in the locker room that so and so puts out and letting the rumors fly.

[Patton]

Anonymous: ""I can't believe all these Republicans have the audacity to push these anti-Democrat scandals when they have no more evidence of wrongdoing that we Democrats did when we were pushing anti-Republican scandals.""""

Anonymous, you must understand by now that none of us respond to you, we post repsonses for the enjoyment of the other regulars. But anyhow, let's test your argument:

Democrat aide receives classified report that he requested himself...two days leter it is front page news on the NYT.

Now if you told me that Libby had requested
Plame's personnel file, and two days later information from her personnel files was published...you might have a point.
But a small one.

That is if prominent journalists like Bob Woodward weren't going around town telling people what was in the NIE.

[Rick Ballard]

I'm just amazed that the innocent aide hasn't demanded an FBI administered lie detector test already. Surely he would want to flaunt the results in Chairman Hoekstra's presence.

Very odd.

[Syl]

I'm just amazed that the innocent aide hasn't demanded an FBI administered lie detector test already.

If he didn't leak it to the press, he knows the person he did leak it to who then leaked it to the press.

Heh.

[maryrose]

Syl and Rick:
You have hit it on the head. Now we need a press conference before the election where Pelosi and Harmon have to answer 'What did the aide leak and when did they know about it?

[Dave in W-S]

Good point, Syl. I was struck earlier by the comment from somewhere close to the investigation (it's too late to go searching for the exact quote now, and a couple of "Eye of the Hawk" ales past able) that while more than one person had access to the leaked report, the staffer was the only one who had requested it during that time interval. The first thought that sprang to my mind was, "He's a staffer. Who asked him to get the report?" That may be the exact question he is being asked. Of course, long time staffers (and he is a long time staffer) are not gophers. They have a lot of power without the actual authority.

So my question would not be, "What did the aide leak?", but rather, with whom did he share the report. And just how much does he value his career? Is he willing to take a fall to protect someone else? Or can he play the innocent convincingly enough to hang a principal?

Yeah, yeah. It's all speculation. But isn't that the fun part?

[topsecretk9]

--"He's a staffer. Who asked him to get the report?" --

Like Boehner articulated...it's true people had ACCESS to the report -- access and actually having/getting the report I think is the key.

[topsecretk9]

InstaHEH comments off of Eugene V.

--He seems like a poor choice to me, and if I were the Democrats, who have to be worried about national security as an election issue, I wouldn't be thinking about him for the position--

I wonder if this has anything to do with William Jefferson. I recall Pelosi had a heck of a time getting the CBC to back Jefferson stepping down as chairman of the Appropriations committee (I think it was that committee)

[SlimGuy]

I know it's kinda risky for the guy to fall on the sword for the greater percieved good, but could this be Pelosi/Waters kicking one leg out from under Harmon's table to say we had to replace her with Hastings and the devil made me do it?

[Neo]

Be ready for all possible surprises.

[SlimGuy]

Neo

Hmmmm, it ain't Halloween yet, get yer calendar updated.

LOL

[SlimGuy]

If my dear departed wife were still with me , I would not be posting for the next week, we would be on our annual trek to her native Germany to attend Octoberfest.

I can't go by myself, even with my son who will miss it. Perhaps next year.

[anonymous]

Is this what they mean when they say 'thread killer?'

[PeterUK]

Patton,

"But Patton, it voilates his right to work. If he has no clearance how can he leak secrets?"

Only if he had £Leaker of Secrets" in his job description.

[ed]

Hmmm.

All they have to do is ask the DOJ to investigate and throw the NYT reporter into jail until he coughs up the name of the source.

*shrug* besides isn't this the same exactly level of evidence being applied in the Libby/Plame trial?

[maryrose]

Libby was forced to resign his position because of a half-baked runaway prosecutor Fitz. As far as I know this staffer is still employed and now will be watched so he can't leak anymore. I wonder whom he is protecting. Better not be Harmon.

[Neo]

Wow. This Kennedy-Tunney overture was just two months after Reagan’s Evil Empire speech.

Talk about being on the wrong side of history.

[Walter]

Funny, but what strikes me about this is Harmon's choice of Olson on this weekend of all others.

If I read the Time article correctly, she learned from them that she was being investigated.

So, she hires Ted Olson, who spends the day making calls to reporters.

Lucky the kerfluffle didn't extend into Saturday, as Olson had other things to do.

The poor man has had enough bad things happen in his love life.

[Walter]

Syl,

I agree. FWIW, I think that these sorts of machinations are a more saleable argument against Pelosi.

As Clarice noted, she grew up in the Baltimore Democratic machine. You don't have to spend much time looking at that town to see how well that worked out for the voters.

But, as often as she played those games in SF, I never saw the victims turn Republican.

[HsvsRsvsesv]

[URL=http://mh-medicine.blogspot.com]men's helth[/URL]