House Intelligence committee vice chairman Jane Harman at odds with chairman Peter Hoekstra over subpoeanaing former member Duke Cunningham. The committee is investigating how Cunningham's bribery deal might have affected the committee's work;

Harman strongly supports subpoenaing Cunningham, the San Diego Republican who resigned from Congress last November after admitting taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and others. But Hoekstra has not agreed.

A congressional staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said that Hoekstra wanted to hear from Cunningham but was not interested in subpoenaing him only to have him invoke Fifth Amendment protections and refuse to testify, as his attorney has reportedly warned the committee he would do. [...]

Harman declined to reveal contents of the report, but congressional officials have told AP that the document concludes that Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates.

As the last point indicates, one issue raised by the Cunningham case and investigation: how many secret appropriations recommendations are coming out of the intelligence committee. Until last year, Cunningham chaired the committee's subcommittee on terrorism and human intelligence.

Posted by Laura at September 12, 2006 11:17 PM