Insider Intrigue

The war between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman has taken another turn this week.

For those who don’t remember, Pelosi refused to let Harman become the Intelligence Committee chairwoman when the Democrats took control of the House four years ago. The reasons that were most often cited had to do with the personality conflict between them, two strong-willed California women, both with great wealth and great panache, who simply didn’t like each other. Harman, more moderate and a supporter of the war with Iraq, vs. Pelosi, more liberal and an ardent opponent.

It now turns out that Pelosi knew that Harman was being wiretapped, and that she knew that Harman was being investigated for possibly working for the release of two Israeli lobbyists, who were charged with spying on America. Pelosi kept that information to herself, saying in the papers today, “It was not my position to raise it with Jane Harman.” Ouch …

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a Harman supporter, said that he would “personally pursue the case.”

Pelosi hated the war and hated the fact that Harman supported it.

Harman and Hoyer were both strong supporters of the war, as was AIPAC, the extraordinarily powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Harman calls on AIPAC to help get the chairmanship; they ask for help with the lobbyists who were caught spying on America. Pelosi hears about that little intrigue and has all the information she needs to deny her the chairmanship. Instead, she gives the chairmanship to a guy who didn’t know the difference between the Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq.

It is fascinating that this is all coming to light in the same week we are talking about torture. Both Harman and Pelosi were probably fully briefed on the torture techniques used to get information from the “enemy combatants.”

Neither said much about the torture, if anything, at the time. Neither is saying much right now.

It is also fascinating to note that the charges against those two AIPAC lobbyists may now be dropped. Behold the power of AIPAC!

Pelosi’s colleagues have been put on notice this week. She keeps the information that she gets very close, and if you are not with her, you are against her. She had the goods on Mrs. Harman, and that was enough to kick Mrs. Harman off of the Intel Committee.

It all makes for great insider intrigue.

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