WASHINGTON (JTA) — The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee ordered an inquest into how a congresswoman was wiretapped.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) told his staff to uncover how Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), a Jewish congresswoman who was his predecessor as the senior Democrat on the committee, was wiretapped speaking to someone that U.S. authorities believed to be an "Israeli agent" sometime between 2004 and 2006, Congressional Quarterly reported Thursday.
Congressional Quarterly had previously broken the story about Harman’s alleged involvement in a scheme to use her influence to seek leniency for two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee charged with dealing in classified information in exchange for political favors.
Harman has vehemently denied the charges and asked for a release of the transcripts.
No evidence has been produced to show that Harman ever intervened on behalf of the staffers.
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