Rep Harman Rails Against Wiretapping That Ensnared Her

Rep Jane Harman (D-CA) vowed yesterday to clear her name after the revelation of a wiretapped conversation in which she reportedly agreed to intervene in the federal investigation of two pro-Israel lobbyists in exchange for help in getting a coveted congressional post. Rep Harman has described the wiretap as an abuse of government power. But sources have told The Washington Post that she was not being surveilled; the tapped phone belonged to the suspected Israeli agent, who happened to talk to her. Federal prosecutors last week dropped the case against the former lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, saying recent court rulings had changed the legal dynamics and made it unlikely they would win.