# Jane Harman

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Jane Harman," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jane-harman/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Former U.S. Representative from California who served as ranking member and later chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Per John Kiriakou, Harman was present in the room when congressional leadership was briefed on the CIA's enhanced interrogation program; when reporters later asked her about the program, she denied knowing about it. Kiriakou told the New York Times she had been in the room, after which Harman revised her account to say she had left early and that an aide remained as a notetaker.*

- **Position:** U.S. Representative; Ranking Member / Chair, House Intelligence Committee
- **Relevance:** Briefed on CIA enhanced interrogation program
- **Conflict:** Publicly denied knowledge; Kiriakou stated she was present

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) described the congressional briefings on the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)'s [enhanced interrogation program](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/enhanced-interrogation) as a deliberate effort to give key lawmakers advance knowledge — and thereby political cover for the agency. Among those briefed was **Jane Harman**, then the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.[1] Kiriakou says Harman — whom he describes as a progressive Democrat from Venice, California — chaired the House Intelligence Committee for much of the torture program's duration, and that despite the oversight committees being fully informed the programs were illegal, immoral, and unethical, not a single member objected, Harman included.[2]

When journalists subsequently asked Harman whether she had known about the torture program, she denied it. Kiriakou told the *New York Times* that Harman had been in the room during the briefing. Faced with that account, Harman changed her statement: she acknowledged attending the briefing but claimed she had left before it concluded, leaving an aide to take notes in her absence.[3]

Kiriakou presented this sequence as illustrative of the broader pattern in which members of Congress were read into programs and then disclaimed knowledge of them when those programs became politically toxic.[4]

## See also

- [Enhanced interrogation techniques](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/enhanced-interrogation)
- [Senate Torture Report](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/senate-torture-report)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou: CIA's Secret Torture Programs, Mk-Ultra, 9-11, and Why Obama Threw Him in Jail (2025-06-04), at 27:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBMKwt14IU&t=1620s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-04-tucker-carlson-cia-torture-mk-ultra-911/
2. Spelunking the Deep State with John Kiriakou (2023-01-11), at 16:51. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0yrElNSFA&t=1011s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-11-real-progressives/
3. John Kiriakou: CIA's Secret Torture Programs, Mk-Ultra, 9-11, and Why Obama Threw Him in Jail (2025-06-04), at 27:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBMKwt14IU&t=1650s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-04-tucker-carlson-cia-torture-mk-ultra-911/
4. John Kiriakou: CIA's Secret Torture Programs, Mk-Ultra, 9-11, and Why Obama Threw Him in Jail (2025-06-04), at 28:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBMKwt14IU&t=1680s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-04-tucker-carlson-cia-torture-mk-ultra-911/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jane-harman/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt