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Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder - Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. More

Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal. He previously served as the politics editor, and is now a contributing editor, for The Atlantic, where he curated the influential Politics channel on TheAtlantic.com and contributed to the magazine. He was also a chief political consultant to CBS News. Earlier, at NJ's Hotline, Ambinder was the founding editor of "Hotline On Call," a pathbreaking political news blog. He also worked as a producer and reporter for the ABC News Political Unit and was one of the founders of ABC's "The Note." Born in New York City, raised in Central Florida, Ambinder is a 2001 graduate of Harvard and lives in Washington, D.C.

Who Listened To Harman? NSA Or FBI?

By Marc Ambinder
Apr 20 2009, 2:51 PM ET Comment

Was Rep. Jane Harman's conversation with an unnamed Israeli "agent" picked up on a National Security Agency wiretap? Or by a less-sexy Federal Bureau of Investigation counterespionage operation? Several sources with direct knowledge of the incident say that Harman's telephone conversation was recorded as part of the ongoing FBI investigation into whether AIPAC officials,  Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, leaked secrets to Israel.



One source said that the person on the other end of the line was also a U.S. citizen.

Officials would not say whether NSA wiretaps were authorized and in use as part of the investigation. 

But the sources with knowledge of the investigation say that the CIA and NSA were peripherally involved, and that CIA director Porter Goss played only a small role: he was asked to trigger a formal notification about Harman's wiretap cameo to senior congressional officials. FBI director Bob Mueller was, at the time, unable to sanction the notification, so officials turned to Goss. 

It is not clear whether Harman was ever the subject of a formal investigation, although Time Magazine reported in 2006 that officials from the department's public corruptions unit were looking into allegations that Harman promised to pressure the Justice Department to drop the charges in exchange for receiving help from AIPAC in her quest to chair the intelligence committee.  

Officials with direct knowledge of the case say that Harman is not currently the subject of any investigation.
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Marc Ambinder
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