Yesterday Nancy Pelosi denied that she had been threatened by Haim Saban over Jane Harman's 2006 bid to chair the House Intelligence Committee. But now CQ's Jeff Stein reports on an NSA wiretap in which Harman is told by an unnamed Israeli that Pelosi "went ballistic" when approached by Saban, who may have threatened to withhold campaign contributions from House Democratic candidates if Pelosi didn't give Harman the post.
So I think we now know this stuff definitely isn't coming from Pelosi. And given that this revelation embarrasses the speaker, but has no legal implication that I can think of (it's not illegal to threaten not to give money, is it?), I think it smells more like partisan motivation is at work here.
P.S. I should add that while Pelosi may not have been entirely candid about her talk with Saban, what really matters here is that she refused to be intimidated by him. Good for her.
--Michael Crowley