Harman Gets Intel Subcommittee Chair; Will She Turn Screws on Secret Service?

Jane Harman gets her consolation prize:

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., was named Thursday to head the intelligence subcommittee of the Committee on Homeland Security.

The appointment marks a comeback of sorts for Harman, who was passed over by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for the top job on the intelligence committee, a post she had expected to get when the Democrats took power.

The Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment oversees domestic intelligence issues, threat assessments and oversight of the Secret Service, among other issues.

Oversight of the Secret Service? Really? Well, in that case,

Madam Chair, I request you do something about this:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.

The Bush administration did not reveal the existence of the memorandum of understanding until last fall.

The White House is using it to deal with a legal problem on a separate front, a ruling by a federal judge ordering the production of Secret Service logs identifying visitors to the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Secret Service is not a political organ of the administration, and their collusion with the White House on hiding information the public has a right to know about needs to be stopped.