Why the Harman leaks smell to high heaven-UPDATE 2 http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/why-the-harman-leaks-smell-to-high-heaven/ As CQ Politics reports: Allegations that U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) attempted to intervene on behalf of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, the two former AIPAC staffers charged with leaking U.S. secrets, resurface weeks before the government brings its increasingly weak case against them. Coincidence? JTA’s Ron Kampeas doesn’t think so. en-us rkampeas@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-04-20T;10:36:04-05:00 Comment by Archie1954 robertgsmiley@hotmail.com Criminal cases are, of course, replete with legalities all, pr any of which can make or break a case. But there is much more at stake here then if or if not, Harman was complicit in influence peddling or whether or not the information passed on was military secrets. The big stoy is whether or not the parties involved are agents of a foreign government who have that foreign government’s best interests at heart and are traitors to the US. AIPAC is a lobby, but it may also be a formidable foreign spy agency for another country. If it is, as many Americans suspect then it bears going through the legal motions to get the inside information necessary to either clear the organization of such innuendo or to evidence its complicity in espionage. Either way it’s important to follow through with the case. Criminal cases are, of course, replete with legalities all, pr any of which can make or break a case. But there is much more at stake here then if or if not, Harman was complicit in influence peddling or whether or not the information passed on was military secrets. The big stoy is whether or not the parties involved are agents of a foreign government who have that foreign government’s best interests at heart and are traitors to the US. AIPAC is a lobby, but it may also be a formidable foreign spy agency for another country. If it is, as many Americans suspect then it bears going through the legal motions to get the inside information necessary to either clear the organization of such innuendo or to evidence its complicity in espionage. Either way it’s important to follow through with the case.

]]> 2012-02-10T;00:53:00-05:00 Comment by Will Edwards wl.edwards@gmail.com With the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act our civil liberties went out the window Thomas… With the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act our civil liberties went out the window Thomas…

]]> 2012-02-10T;00:53:00-05:00 Comment by Will Edwards wl.edwards@gmail.com Mr Maguire, Under the Bush administration the law and the constitution were not given any respect.  Those usurpers of our liberties did what they wanted to.  It will be some time before all the atrocious violations of our laws are discovered and still longer before these criminals pay for their crimes.  Never before in our history have we had such an incompetent or criminal administration.  The closest was the Pierce administration and GW Bush is a direct descendent of Pierce.  Funny how that works, eh?  It is time to stand up for our laws and our values.  It is time to put the real criminals behind bars so they cannot do any more harm.  We can start with Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff (he’s already in jail...) Tom Delay, etc etc etc… the list goes on and on. Mr Maguire,
Under the Bush administration the law and the constitution were not given any respect.  Those usurpers of our liberties did what they wanted to.  It will be some time before all the atrocious violations of our laws are discovered and still longer before these criminals pay for their crimes.  Never before in our history have we had such an incompetent or criminal administration.  The closest was the Pierce administration and GW Bush is a direct descendent of Pierce.  Funny how that works, eh?  It is time to stand up for our laws and our values.  It is time to put the real criminals behind bars so they cannot do any more harm.  We can start with Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff (he’s already in jail...) Tom Delay, etc etc etc… the list goes on and on.

]]> 2012-02-10T;00:53:00-05:00 Comment by Thomas Maguire mr_minuteman@hotmail.com A detail in the CQ story puzzle me: “First, however, they needed the certification of top intelligence officials that Harman’s wiretapped conversations justified a national security investigation. Then-CIA Director Porter J. Goss reviewed the Harman transcript and signed off on the Justice Department’s FISA application. He also decided that, under a protocol involving the separation of powers, it was time to notify then-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Pelosi, of the FBI’s impending national security investigation of a member of Congress — to wit, Harman.” The CIA is not allowed to get involved in domestic law enforcement, so how in the world do FISA applications get routed across their desk?  The FBI handles domestic counter-intelligence and FISA applications. Well, if this detail is wrong, why CQ would have it wrong?  Beats me, but one guess could be that Stein, the CQ reporter, knew he was talking to CIA sources and they needed to explain their detailed knowledge of the case. Or, maybe the CIA really does get involved with FISA applications and my notion is all wet.  But it seems like a useful place to look. A detail in the CQ story puzzle me:

“First, however, they needed the certification of top intelligence officials that Harman’s wiretapped conversations justified a national security investigation.

Then-CIA Director Porter J. Goss reviewed the Harman transcript and signed off on the Justice Department’s FISA application. He also decided that, under a protocol involving the separation of powers, it was time to notify then-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Pelosi, of the FBI’s impending national security investigation of a member of Congress — to wit, Harman.”

The CIA is not allowed to get involved in domestic law enforcement, so how in the world do FISA applications get routed across their desk?  The FBI handles domestic counter-intelligence and FISA applications.

Well, if this detail is wrong, why CQ would have it wrong?  Beats me, but one guess could be that Stein, the CQ reporter, knew he was talking to CIA sources and they needed to explain their detailed knowledge of the case.

Or, maybe the CIA really does get involved with FISA applications and my notion is all wet.  But it seems like a useful place to look.

]]> 2012-02-10T;00:53:00-05:00 Comment by Will Edwards wl.edwards@gmail.com Around here when you say this conversation never happened it means something different.  It means we’ve made a deal but we will speak of it no more and we “do not recall” it ever happening.  As far as this goes it does look like influence peddling, but it very well may not be.  If the people involved broke the law (not the GW Bush kinda law, but real law) then they need to pay for their deeds.  If this is just another attempt by the Republican party to use word trickery to persecute Israel and Jews in general then we need to pursue criminal action against said perpetrators.  I believe Gonzales has already been fired in disgrace for illegal “not recalling”.  As have many of his cohorts.  It is time to aggressively pursue instances like these until all of them have been resolved. Around here when you say this conversation never happened it means something different.  It means we’ve made a deal but we will speak of it no more and we “do not recall” it ever happening.  As far as this goes it does look like influence peddling, but it very well may not be.  If the people involved broke the law (not the GW Bush kinda law, but real law) then they need to pay for their deeds.  If this is just another attempt by the Republican party to use word trickery to persecute Israel and Jews in general then we need to pursue criminal action against said perpetrators.  I believe Gonzales has already been fired in disgrace for illegal “not recalling”.  As have many of his cohorts.  It is time to aggressively pursue instances like these until all of them have been resolved.

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