Harman's AIPAC activities have sunk her chances to be HPSCI chair.

November 17/18/19, 2006 -- Capitol Hill sources report that Jane Harman, the ranking Democratic member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), whose chairmanship is opposed by Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, attempted to interfere in the Justice Department's investigation of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for espionage.

Harman's AIPAC activities have sunk her chances to be HPSCI chair.

Harman reportedly agreed to work with Republican chairman Peter Hoekstra to avoid an investigation of the cooked up pre-war intelligence on Iraq in return for the Bush administration going easy on the investigation of AIPAC officials Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, both later indicted for receiving highly classified documents from Israeli Pentagon spy Larry Franklin.

The word is that Harman's involvement with AIPAC has torpedoed her chances of becoming HPSCI chair with California's two Democratic Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both weighing in with Pelosi against Harman becoming chairman.

Could Rush Holt emerge as a compromise candidate to head the

HPSCI?

November 16, 2006 -- A dark horse has emerged as a potential compromise candidate to head the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). The committee's next leader has become a sticking point since House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi has signaled she does not want ranking member Jane Harman in the position and doubts have been raised about the suitability of next senior Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), impeached as a federal judge for ethics violations, and the relative inexperience of next senior Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX). Some intelligence insiders report that they would like to see HPSCI member Rush Holt of New Jersey, the current ranking member of the Intelligence Policy subcommittee, take over as chair of the HPSCI. Holt has strong national security credentials, having served as the chief of the Nuclear and Scientific Division of the Office of Strategic Forces at the U.S. Department of State during the years just prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. There is also Holt's West Virginia connection to incoming Senate Select Committee on Intelligence chair, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Holt's father, Rush Holt, Sr., served as a U.S. Senator from West Virginia from 1935 to 1941.

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