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Rep. Harman Wiretapped? Or Overheard On A Wiretap?

In response to a question from a reporter, Pelosi said:

when a member of Congress is included in the wiretap, you know, when you're wire tapping somebody else but when you have a member of Congress that is overheard in the wiretap, that the leadership is informed and that happened at that time... it was not my position to raise it with Jane Harman, no. In fact I didn't even know if what they were talking about it was real. All I knew is that she was wiretapped.

Emphasis, again, mine. Pelosi, who was once ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, knows the distinction between a person being wiretapped and a person being overheard on a wiretap as well as anybody. But considering all the new reports that have emerged in the last couple days--and that the New York Times reported yesterday that Harman was "inadvertently swept up" in a wiretap--it really seems like, expertise notwithstanding, Pelosi just spoke unclearly here.

About The Author

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Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com