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@@ Jew lobbyists charged with classified leaks @@

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Arash

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Aug 4, 2005, 6:12:40 PM8/4/05

Associated Press (AP)
August 4, 2005

Jew lobbyists charged with classified leaks

Two former employees of Israeli lobbying organization were indicted Thursday on charges
they conspired to obtain and disclose classified U.S. defense information.

An indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, named Steven Rosen,
formerly the director of foreign policy issues for the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), and Keith Weissman, the organization's former senior Iran analyst.

The five-count indictment also spells out in greater detail the government's case against
Pentagon analyst Lawrence A. Franklin, who already was facing charges that he leaked
classified military information to an Israeli official and the AIPAC employees.

Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman disclosed sensitive information as far back as 1999 on a
variety of topics that included terrorist activities in Central Asia, the bombing of the
Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda and U.S. policy in Iran, the indictment said.
Among their contacts were U.S. and foreign government officials and reporters, the
indictment said.

Lawyers for Rosen and Weissman denied the accusations. "The charges in the indictment
announced today are entirely unjustified", said Abbe Lowell, Rosen's attorney.

John Nassikas, Weissman's lawyer, said, "We are disappointed that the government has
decided to pursue these charges, which Mr. Weissman strongly denies".

Larry Franklin's relationship with the men dates to 2003, the indictment said. Franklin
pleaded innocent to the charges when his indictment was first unsealed in June.

Paul McNulty, the U.S. attorney in Alexandria, said the men apparently were motivated by a
desire to advance their personal agendas and careers by trading on prized information.
"The facts alleged today tell a story of individuals who put their own interests and their
own views of foreign policy ahead of American national security", McNulty said at a news
conference.

Although the indictment refers to other U.S. officials who gave Steven Rosen classified
materials, McNulty said no other charges are planned, but noted the investigation
continues.

Plato Cacheris, Larry Franklin's lawyer, said he had been expecting additional charges. He
said Franklin cooperated with investigators for three months in 2004.

The FBI's long-running investigation has focused on whether Larry Franklin, of
Kearneysville, West Virgina, passed classified U.S. material on Iran to AIPAC, the
influential main Israeli lobbying organization in Washington, and whether that group in
turn passed it on to Israel. Both AIPAC and Israel deny any wrongdoing.

Larry Franklin has pleaded innocent.

AIPAC fired Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman in April. Rosen, quoted in The New Yorker
magazine last month, denied knowingly receiving classified information.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-04-spyingcharges_x.htm