CQ's Jeff Stein doubts story will lead to investigations

In a follow-up to his Jane Harman scoop yesterday, CQ Politics' Jeff Stein says he doesn't believe the story will generate any official investigations:

Where does it go from here?

"I think it's safe to say that investigations will be underway shortly," blogger Ataru ventured at the Blog for Democracy.

If he means a Justice Department or congressional investigation, I doubt it.

People: Jane Harman is a Democrat. Last time I checked, the White House and Congress were in the hands of the Democrats.

And tell me this: How will the Republicans reopen this can of worms when one of their own wriggling at the bottom is Alberto Gonzales?

They can't.

Meanwhile, Steven Aftergood at Secrecy News, a Web site of the Federation of American Scientists, wonders if there's any there there:

What makes the quid pro quo allegation questionable is that neither side of the reported conversation seemed to need an inducement to act as described.  Of all potential candidates for chair of the House Intelligence Committee (Harman, Hastings, Reyes), Harman's views have probably been closest to those of pro-Israel lobbyists.  Their support of her was not in doubt.  Nor did Rep. Harman require extraordinary incentives to be concerned about the prosecution of the former AIPAC officials.  That case has drawn widespread criticism (including from Secrecy News) for its over-broad reading of the Espionage Act that would make even the receipt of classified information a crime.

Ironically, the single identifiable crime in this whole story is the unauthorized disclosure of the classified contents of an intelligence intercept to CQ, and then to the New York Times.

Also, here's the transcript of Harman's appearance on MSNBC.