@@ Israeli spy in Pentagon arrested @@
Arash
May 4, 2005
Pentagon Analyst Charged With Passing Secrets
By Fred Barbash
A policy analyst who worked in the office of the undersecretary of defense was arrested
today and charged with illegally disclosing classified information relating to "potential
attacks" on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Justice Department announced.
In a statement and an FBI affidavit, the government said Lawrence (larry) Franklin, 58,
passed information to two unnamed individuals at a restaurant in June, 2003. He also is
accused of disclosing information to an unspecified "foreign official" and to unnamed
members of the news media.
Law enforcement officials said the people at the lunch were employees of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee. Neither the statement nor an accompanying affidavit
mentions AIPAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIPAC).
Larry Franklin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Franklin) is a career analyst at the
Defense Intelligence Agency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Intelligence_Agency) who
specializes in Iran and has served in the Air Force Reserve, rising to colonel. Early in
the Bush administration, Franklin moved from the DIA to the Pentagon's policy branch
headed by Undersecretary Douglas Feith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Feith), where
he continued his work on Iranian affairs.
The investigation of Larry Franklin had been previously reported in connection with the
April dismissal of two senior employees of AIPAC, one of Washington's most influential
lobbying organizations. The employees were reportedly suspected of passing classified
information received from Larry Franklin to the government of Israel.
Specifically, the FBI was looking into how the two men obtained a draft presidential
directive on Iran.
The FBI raided AIPAC's offices in Washington twice last year, obtaining computer files and
serving grand jury subpoenas on four senior executives.
Officials and colleagues have said previously that Larry Franklin had traveled to Israel
frequently, including while on duty in the Air Force Reserve, where he served as a
specialist in foreign political-military affairs. He may have been based at the U.S.
Embassy in Tel Aviv on those tours, said a former co-worker at the DIA, but was never
permanently assigned there.
Today's announcement, while saying the investigation was continuing, did not specify what
information Larry Franklin is accused of disclosing, except that it was top secret and
"related to potential attacks upon U.S. forces in Iraq". It alleges that on June 26, 2003,
"Franklin had lunch at a restaurant in Arlington" with two individuals to whom he
disclosed the classified information telling them that it was "highly classified" and
asking them "not to 'use it' ".
In June of 2004, authorities searched Larry Franklin's Pentagon office and found the
document "containing the information that Larry Franklin allegedly disclosed to the two
individuals", the statement said.
They also searched his home in West Virginia and found "approximately 83 separate
classified U.S. government documents" spanning three decades. "At no time was Franklin's
house an authorized location" for the storage of such documents, the statement said.
After the searches, the affidavit said, Franklin agreed to a voluntary interview with FBI
agents in which he "admitted that he provided the classified information" contained in the
document found in his office.
Larry Franklin's lawyer did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.
http://www.sw-asia.com/People/images/Bio918b.jpg
Douglas Feith & Larry Franklin
Pentagon Iran analyst charged
http://www.warandpiece.com
Spies in the Pentagon
http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski91.html
Notes on Larry Franklin
http://www.sw-asia.com/People/Bio918.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/04/AR2005050400922_pf.html