NYT:

Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement Monday that Ms. Harman called Philip Taubman, then the Washington bureau chief of The Times, in October or November of 2004. Mr. Keller said she spoke to Mr. Taubman — apparently at the request of Gen. Michael V. Hayden, then the director of the National Security Agency — and urged that The Times not publish the article. “She did not speak to me,” Mr. Keller said, “and I don’t remember her being a significant factor in my decision.”

Shortly before the article was published more than a year later, in December 2005, Mr. Taubman met with a group of Congressional leaders familiar with the eavesdropping program, including Ms. Harman. They all argued that The Times should not publish.

The former officials who spoke to The Times did not know about Mr. Gonzales’s role nor about Ms. Harman’s contacts with The Times. Aides to Mr. Gonzales declined to comment.

And who was the suspected Israeli agent, presumably overseas, since it was reportedly captured by the NSA, intervening with Harman on the Aipac case? Who promised that Saban would withhold funds to Pelosi if she didn't make Harman chair?

That official said that someone seeking help for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee employees was recorded asking Ms. Harman to intervene with the Justice Department, but that she responded by saying she would have more influence with a White House official she did not identify.

In return, the caller promised her that a wealthy California donor would threaten to withhold campaign contributions to Representative Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who was expected to become speaker after the 2006 election, if she did not select Ms. Harman for the intelligence post.

Ms. Harman’s conversations were inadvertently caught by N.S.A. eavesdroppers during an investigation, three current or former senior administration officials said. It is not clear exactly when the wiretaps, first reported by Congressional Quarterly, occurred.

Posted by Laura at April 20, 2009 10:54 PM