Harman Wiretap Stars Pepper Independence Day Reception

By Nathan Guttman April 30, 2009

Some of the stars of the Harman wiretap affair showed up Wednesday for the Israeli embassy’s reception marking Israel’s Independence Day.

On the stage, delivering a warm farewell to outgoing ambassador Salai Meridor was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who according to reports was supposed to lobbied in favor of appointing Jane Harman to chair the intelligence committee.

Not far, in the crowd stood Steve Rosen, the former Aipac staffer whose case was allegedly being discussed in the wiretapped phone conversation between Harman and the suspected Israeli agent. Also in attendance was Washington attorney Baruch Weiss who represents Rosen’s co-defendant Keith Weissman.

Harman herself was not among those celebrating Israel’s 61 years of independence. She is expected to show up Sunday, for the opening panel at Aipac’s annual policy conference.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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