DOJ/FBI Arrest Announcement 4 May 2005

FBI Arrests Pentagon Analyst Larry Franklin Passed Classified Information to Officials from the Pro-Israel Lobby Group: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

Six Count Indictment unsealed 13 June 2005

Indictment: Franklin, Rosen and Weisman

4 August 2005

BEFORE arrest new stories

American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

What is AIPAC?

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is considered one of the three most powerful lobbies in Washington. Founded in 1951 as American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs by I.L. (Sy) Kenen, the lobby sought to circumvent the State Department to appeal directly to Congress to provide aid to Israel. The lobby changed its name to American Israel Public Affairs Committee by the end of the decade. AIPAC is a membership organization and currently boasts 65,000 members across all 50 of the American states. According to the organization’s website, “through more than 2,000 meetings with members of Congress” it’s activists “help pass more than 100 pro-Israel legislative initiatives a year”......Read more on SpinWatch

Israeli Embassy in Washington

The Pentagon

Douglas Feith bio

Wikipedia information on case

Israeli Threat Memo

Israeli Intelligence

The Mossad official website

Jonathan Pollard website

Franklin case on Justice for Jonathan Pollard site

"It's totally astonishing to all of us who knew him. He is a career guy, a mild-mannered professional. No one would think of him as evil or devious."

Coworker of Larry Franklin

"I think he was probably lured into thinking that it was OK or at least you could get away with doing something like this by the general atmosphere of very full cooperation with the Israelis in the Pentagon policy shop."

Patrick Lang, who formerly worked with Larry Franklin at the Defense Intelligence Agency

"There is a huge, aggressive, ongoing set of Israeli activities directed against the United States. Anybody who worked in counterintelligence in a professional capacity will tell you the Israelis are among the most aggressive and active countries targeting the United States. They undertake a wide range of technical operations and human operations. People here as liaison aggressively pursue classified intelligence from people. The denials are laughable."

Former intelligence official

"I don't know of any foreign government that doesn't do collection in Washington."

Bush administration official who confirmed that Israel ran intelligence operations against the United States

"The investigation sort of evaporated when the leaks started. Investigators were watching the activities of a few people and now they know they're being watched. It has become a nightmare."

Law enforcement official concerning the leaking of the Bureau investigation of Larry Franklin/AIPAC

Books on Israeli intelligence:

Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services by Ian Black

Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Updated Edition) by Gordon Thomas

Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community by Dan Raviv, Yossi Melman

By Way of Deception by Victor Ostrovsky

The Woman from Mossad: The Story of Mordechai Vanunu & the Israeli Nuclear Program by Peter Hounam

Territory of Lies: The Exclusive Story of Jonathan Jay Pollard : The American Who Spied on His Country for Israel and How He Was Betrayed by Wolf Blitzer

A Spy in Canaan: My Life As a Jewish-American Businessman Spying for Israel in Arab Lands by Howard H. Schack

Spies, Inc. : Business Innovation from Israel's Masters of Espionage by Stacy Perman

The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship by A. Jay Cristol

Lawyer Plato Cacheris:

Plato Cacheris profile

Legends in the Law

Larry Franklin Case

AFTER Arrest

News Articles (most recent articles are FIRST)

Appeals court to hear arguments in AIPAC case

…The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Thursday scheduled oral arguments for Oct. 28-31 in the case against Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst. Rosen and Weissman are charged with receiving classified information and relaying it to journalists, Israeli diplomats and colleagues at AIPAC. The charges are based on a section of the 1917 Espionage Act that prosecutors have rarely invoked because its inclusion of civilians as legitimate targets for prosecution for handling information threatens First Amendment protections. The government had in March appealed rulings by U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis deeming some classified evidence admissible. It also sought reversals of earlier Ellis decisions against closing the trial to public scrutiny and narrowing the constitutional scope of the statute so that prosecutors must prove Rosen and Weissman harmed the United States, and not merely helped Israel. The 4th Circuit already ruled in June that it would only consider what classified evidence may be ruled admissible, and dismissed the government's arguments on the closed court and the constitutionality of the charges…The Oct. 28 date for oral arguments in the appellate court almost certainly knocks back the latest trial date set by Ellis, also Oct. 28. Trial dates have been set and canceled at least five times since indictments were handed down three years ago.…..(JTA, 15 Aug 08)

Court Narrows Scope of Appeal in Rosen/Weissman AIPAC Case

A federal appeals court handling the case of two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who are charged with unlawful handling of classified information last week granted a defense motion to limit the scope of a pending prosecution appeal. In March, a lower court had issued a sealed 278-page court order identifying what classified information may be disclosed, summarized or withheld at the forthcoming trial of the AIPAC defendants. The government appealed the order in advance of the trial, as it is entitled to do. But at the same time it also attempted to appeal several other prior court orders that it regarded as unfavorable including two 2006 orders that defined the government’s burden of proof and another court opinion that limited the use of secret, non-public evidence. Defense attorneys objected to the reopening of prior court rulings, and the appeals court concurred with them in a June 20 decision. A government brief on the surviving portion of the appeal will be due on July 25…..(FAS, 23 Jun 08)

In Espionage Trial of Ex-AIPAC Employees, Appeals Court Sets High Bar for Prosecution

Two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee employees facing espionage charges won a procedural victory June 20, when a federal appeals court ruled against the prosecution’s request to lower the burden of proof in their upcoming trial. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., upheld the standard of proof set by a federal district court in the case of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who were indicted in 2005 for communicating classified information. The two former Aipac officials are accused of receiving classified information from Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin and passing it on to Israeli diplomats and journalists. A final trial date for the investigation, which became public in August 2004, has not yet been set. In the earlier district court decision, Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled that in order to make the case that Rosen and Weissman had broken the law, the prosecution would need to prove a series of assumptions, among them: That the defendants knew the information they were relaying was classified national defense information, that they knew it was unlawful to disclose the information and that they “had a bad-faith reason to believe the disclosures could be used to the injury of the United States or to the aid of a foreign nation.” The district court also ruled that the prosecution would have to prove Rosen and Weissman intended to harm the United States or aid another nation by disclosing the information…..(Forward, 20 Jun 08)

Analyze this: Is AIPAC showing some cracks?

…Foremost among them is the still looming and oft-delayed "AIPAC trial." It is now more than three years since the FBI arrested AIPAC policy director Steve Rosen and senior analyst Keith Weissman for allegedly receiving classified information relating to Iran from Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, and passing it on to an official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. The case has been highly controversial, not only among AIPAC's supporters in the Jewish community and elsewhere, but with civil rights advocates who believe the Bush Justice Department has gone way over the line in singling out the lobby and prosecuting its officials for information-sharing practices common in Washington……(Jerusalem Post, 2 Jun 08)

Rosen lawyer wants Jews to 'rise up'

U.S. Jews should "rise up" against the classified information case the government has brought against two former AIPAC employees, the lawyer for one of them said. "The government has misbehaved in this case, but I have to tell you that AIPAC and the Jewish community have misbehaved," Steve Rosen's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said on a Washington-area radio program broadcast May 4. Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, were charged in 2005 with dealing in classified information. Their trial date has yet to be set. The government recently filed a rare pretrial appeal to an appeals court after a number of rulings by federal Judge T.S. Ellis III, sitting in Arlington, Va., undercut much of the prosecution's case…..(JTA, 14 May 08)

Trial for Pro-Israel Lobbyists Slips

The trial of two pro-Israel lobbyists for trafficking in classified information is likely to be delayed until September or later, based on the schedule a federal court issued yesterday in an unusual mid-case appeal filed by prosecutors. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va., set dates through the end of July for the filing of legal briefs by the prosecution and lawyers for the two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman…..(New York Sun, 29 Apr 07)

Jacob’s Jottings: Israeli Imbroglio

Feds to Appeal Ruling in AIPAC Case

Yet another delay is expected in the trial of two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing U.S. secrets after prosecutors told a judge Friday they plan to appeal a critical ruling on how classified information will be introduced at trial. The ruling issued this week by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III is sealed, but a lawyer for one defendant portrayed prosecutors' decision to appeal as the latest in a series of setbacks to the government's case. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, were accused in 2005 of illegally disclosing sensitive national defense information. Their trial originally was set for 2006 but will now have to be rescheduled an eighth time _ the latest date had been set for next month……(AP, 21 Mar 08)

Key New Witnesses Sign On For Defense in Aipac Case

The prosecution of two pro-Israel lobbyists charged with obtaining and distributing classified information is looking shakier after two former American ambassadors to Israel and two officials who once oversaw security classification policy for the federal government agreed to testify for the defense. A former executive editor of the New York Times, Max Frankel, and the State Department's top intelligence official from 2001 to 2003, Carl Ford Jr., are also among the expert witnesses identified on Friday in court filings by lawyers for the former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman. The two classification experts on the defense witness list, Steven Garfinkel and J. William Leonard, headed the federal government's Information Security Oversight Office from 1980 through last year……(New York Sun, 17 Mar 08)

Prosecutor in Aipac Case To Leave His Post

A top prosecutor in the case of two pro-Israel lobbyists charged with illegally obtaining and relaying classified information is leaving his post to take work in the private sector less than two months before the trial in the case is set to begin…The two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, are scheduled to go on trial April 29, though the date has slipped repeatedly. The defense and prosecution teams were in court yesterday for closed-door hearings on the classified information involved in the case……(New York Sun, 29 Feb 08)

Top prosecutor in AIPAC case quits

The top prosecutor in the case against two former AIPAC staffers is quitting. Less than two months before the trial date Kevin DiGregory, an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia's Eastern District, is joining the private intellectual property firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips starting Monday. DiGregory has led the classified information case against Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, since they were indicted in August 2005……(JTA, 28 Feb 08)

USA v. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman ("The AIPAC Case"): Selected Case Files

…..(FAS, 7 Nov 07)

Lobbyists or spies?

…According to Judge Ellis, the conspiracy charges based on oral communications alone require proof beyond a reasonable doubt that defendants knew their actions were unlawful and intended either to harm the United States or to benefit a foreign country. Judge Ellis's long November 15, 2006 opinion setting forth the applicable intent element of the pending charges is accessible here……(Powerline Blog, 7 Nov 07)

Are Israeli spies popping up all over?

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal editorial page carried an excellent column by Commentary senior editor Gabriel Schoenfeld on the government's prosecution of former AIPAC employees Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman under the espionage laws….(Powerline Blog, 7 Nov 07)

Lobbyists or Spies?

…In an important trial set to begin in January, the Justice Department has irresponsibly confused the distinction between spying and lobbying. Keith Weissman and Steven J. Rosen, two former employees of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying organization, are charged with unlawfully receiving and transmitting classified national-defense information…The Pentagon official, Lawrence Franklin, who illicitly furnished the two men with secrets, and then participated in an FBI sting operation against them, has pleaded guilty for his part in the affair and was sentenced by federal judge T.S. Ellis III to more than 12 years in federal prison… The high-profile witnesses whom the defense can now bring into the courtroom will make it a tall order to demonstrate any of this. They are almost certain to attest that, at one or another juncture in the course of their careers, they were authorized, as a means of promoting the national interest, to disclose classified information to individuals outside of government, including, on some occasions, to officials at AIPAC itself…..(Wall Street Journal, 6 Nov 07)

AIPAC Court Adopts Silent Witness Rule

…In eleven memorandum opinions issued to date, Judge T.S. Ellis, III has significantly reinterpreted the Espionage Act of 1917, broken new legal ground in implementing the Classified Information Procedures Act (which regulates the use of classified information in criminal trials), and set other precedents…..(FAS, 6 Nov 07)

Defense May Seek U.S. Testimony in Secrets Case

…The judge, T. S. Ellis III of Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., agreed with defense lawyers that Ms. Rice, Mr. Hadley and several other government officials could be subpoenaed because they might help the defendants demonstrate that they were engaged in traditional “back channel” lobbying — not in espionage — in their contacts with the government over Middle East policy…The defendants, Stephen J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC…..(New York Times, 3 Nov 07)

Rice, Others Told to Testify in AIPAC Case

…The opinion by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria directed that subpoenas be issued to officials who include Rice, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, former high-level Department of Defense officials Paul D. Wolfowitz and Douglas J. Feith, and Richard L. Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state. Their testimony has been sought by attorneys for Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, who are accused of conspiring to obtain classified information and pass it to members of the media and the Israeli government……(Washington Post, 3 Nov 07)

Rice, other US officials challenge AIPAC subpoenas in closed-door court hearing
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration officials should be exempt from testifying about whether they shared classified national defense information with two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [advocacy website] lobbyists, lawyers argued at a closed-door court session Thursday. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, indicted [PDF text; JURIST report] in 2005 under the 1917 Espionage Act [18 USC 793 text] for allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information over a five-year period dating back to 1999, say that AIPAC helped write US foreign policy in the Middle East with the tacit endorsement of US officials; they have subpoenaed Rice and other US intelligence officials to testify to this….(Jurist, 30 Aug 07)

Lawyers Challenge Rice, Hadley Subpoenas

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior intelligence officials should not be forced to testify about whether they discussed classified information with pro-Israel lobbyists, federal prosecutors argued in a closed-door court hearing Thursday. Two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists facing espionage charges have subpoenaed Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others to testify at their trial next year. If their testimony is allowed by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, the trial could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign policy is crafted…defense attorneys suggested that top U.S. officials regularly used the lobbyists as a go-between as they crafted Middle East policy. If so, attorneys say, how are Rosen and Weissman supposed to know the same behavior that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?…..(AP, 30 Aug 07)

Federal judge rules Espionage Act constitutional in lobbyists leak case
US District Judge T.S. Ellis has upheld the constitutionality of the 1917 Espionage Act refusing to dismiss charges against two former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [advocacy website]. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman were indicted last year under the Espionage Act for allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information over a five-year period dating back to 1999……(Jurist, 10 Aug 07)

Trial Date Set In Aipac Case

A federal judge has set a trial date early next year for two former pro-Israel lobbyists under indictment for trafficking in classified information. At a hearing Tuesday, Judge Thomas Ellis III said the ex-staffers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, will go on trial beginning January 14, 2008, at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va…..(New York Sun, 2 Aug 07)

Justice defends statute used in AIPAC case

The Justice Department defended prosecutions under a statute it is using for the first time against two former AIPAC staffers...The response was to questions the senators posed at a June 2006 hearing arising from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' statement on a television news show a month earlier in which he said prosecution of journalists under espionage statutes is a "possibility." In its response, the Justice Department said two statutes "on their face do not provide an exemption for any particular class of persons, including journalists," adding that it was policy to investigate leakers and not members of the press who receive the leaks. However, one of the statutes cited is being used to charge as "leakees" Steve Rosen, the former foreign policy chief for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst. The Rosen-Weissman case is considered unprecedented in its use against individuals alleged to have received classified information…..(JTA, 1 Aug 07)

Bush Officials May Face New Subpoenas

Lawyers for two former lobbyists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have asked federal judge T.S. Ellis III to subpoena the highest-ranking foreign policy players in the administration, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Hadley’s deputy, Elliott Abrams, and other top officials from the White House, State Department and Pentagon. The two Aipac lobbyists, Keith Weissman and Steve Rosen, are on trial for allegedly receiving classified information from government officials and relaying it to diplomats, journalists and other Aipac staff members….(Forward, 2 Aug 07)

AIPAC 'Spy' Trial Delayed Again

What started out as a low-grade spy thriller, complete with furtive clandestine meetings over classified information in the heart of the nation's capital, has turned into a ponderous tale of legal delays and a debate over whether the government is trying to criminalize free speech. Former American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) employees Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman were charged in 2005 with passing along to media, colleagues and Israeli officials in the U.S. classified intelligence gleaned from now-convicted former Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin. The federal case, which is being handled by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, was supposed to go to trial on June 4, but was postponed until the fall, the latest of several delays. Sources close to the case suggest the government has been forced to rethink its strategy after Judge T.S. Ellis ruled in April that the government could not keep much of its evidence against the defendants closed to the public…..(Fox, 10 Jun 07)

Prosecutors drop secret trial demand in AIPAC case

…Judge T.S. Ellis III, the federal judge trying the case in Alexandria, Va., last month rejected as unconstitutional the prosecution's request for a trial before a jury sworn to secrecy. Instead, he ordered the prosecution to submit a proposal for declassifying evidence in the case against Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst…..(JTA, 26 May 07)

New Effort to Continue Espionage Case

Federal prosecutors have offered to provide more classified information in open court to keep alive their prosecution of two former pro-Israel lobbyists charged with violating the Espionage Act. The lobbyists, who had been with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, are charged with illegally giving national security information to Israeli officials and reporters….(New York Times, 25 May 07)

Evidence Declassified in AIPAC Case

Intelligence agencies have decided to declassify a large volume of classified information in order to move forward with the criminal prosecution of two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of trafficking in America's national secrets. The decision follows a judge's rejection last month of the government's proposal to limit public access to the trial of the two former staffers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman. Judge Thomas Ellis III concluded that the prosecution's plan, which involved using codes and playing surveillance tapes on headphones for jurors, infringed on the constitutional rights of the defendants. The decision sent prosecutors and the intelligence community scrambling to assess the implications of a trial that laid bare more details about surveillance tactics and about the information allegedly disclosed by Messrs. Rosen and Weissman….(New York Sun, 24 May 07)

Lobby argues that good Americans spy for Israel

Is there a First Amendment right to engage in espionage? Dorothy Rabinowitz seems to think so. Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as "activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment….(Arab-American, 19 May 07)

AIPAC to pay Weissman's legal fees

AIPAC reached a deal with lawyers for its former Iran analyst, Keith Weissman, to pay for his defense against Espionage Act charges. "AIPAC is fully paying for Keith Weissman's defense through appeal if necessary,"….(JTA/Jerusalem Post, 14 May 07)

AJC Concerned Over Government Delays in Rosen-Weissman Case

The American Jewish Committee expressed today its ongoing concern with the consequences of serious delays by the government in going forward with its case against former AIPAC staffers Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, and the resultant impact on their constitutional rights…..(Press Release Newswire, 8 May 07)

AIPAC on Trial

…Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group, who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as “activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment.” If what Rabinowitz says is true—if passing classified information to foreign officials is routine in the nation’s capital—then we are all in big trouble….(American Conservative, 7 May 07)

Judge in trial of former AIPAC staffers rips prosecution for delays

The judge in the trial against former AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) staffers sternly chastised the prosecution Wednesday for delaying the trial, after the government asked for more time to decide how it would proceed in the case. The prosecution's request set back the expected start of the trial against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, accused of passing on classified information, well past its scheduled start of June 4. ….(Jerusalem Post, 4 May 07)

AIPAC Trial Likely to be Postponed

The unprecedented trial of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who are charged under the Espionage Act with unlawful receipt and disclosure of national defense information, is likely to be postponed from its scheduled start date on June 4. The need to resolve disagreements between the parties over the handling of classified information involved in the case will "knock the trial date into a cocked hat," said Judge T.S. Ellis, III at an April 19 hearing….(FAX, 25 Apr 07)

Judge denies attempt to shield evidence in espionage trial

…Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va., ruled Monday that the government's proposal to deny public access to such a large portion of the evidence presented is unconstitutional. The defendants in the upcoming trial are Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, both formerly lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They are charged with conspiring to communicate national defense information…..(RCFP, 18 Apr 07)

Government Loses on AIPAC Secrecy Bid

…Judge Thomas Ellis III ruled that the proposal, which would give jurors and court participants access to classified material that the public would be unable to see or hear, would unfairly "hobble" the defense, infringing on the constitutional and statutory rights of the lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, to receive a public trial. "I think the proposed procedure shackles the defense in a way that cannot pass muster" under the Classified Information Procedures Act, Judge Ellis said in court here yesterday, referring to the federal law that governs how classified material is presented at trial….(New York Sun, 17 Apr 07)

Judge Rejects Plan for Secret Evidence at AIPA Trail

Prosecutors suffered a setback in their case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the 1917 Espionage Act when a judge on Monday rejected the government's proposal for conducting much of the trial in secret….(WJLA, 17 Apr 07)

Judge keeps lobbyist trial open

…(JTA, 17 Apr 07)

Feds Eyeballed AIPAC

…defense lawyers for Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, claimed for the first time that the FBI had considered expanding its criminal investigation. AIPAC's March 2005 firing of Rosen and Weissman, and its decision several months later to stop paying their legal fees, headed off the expanded investigation, according to the sworn defense filing. The filing stems from a defense effort to force AIPAC to resume paying legal fees….(Jewish Times, 29 Mar 07)

A prosecution under the Espionage Act threatens the First Amendment.

Early in June 2004, an employee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC--better known by its media tag, "the powerful Israeli lobby"--received an urgent phone call. Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, a specialist on Iran, informed AIPAC lobbyist Keith Weissman that they had better meet because he had news of the most important kind to disclose….(Wall Street Journal, 2 Apr 07)

Aipac Judge Orders Open Arguments on Government Proposal

A federal judge in the trial of two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said yesterday that a government proposal for keeping classified information out of the public record has "no precedent," and he ordered open arguments on the matter. Judge Thomas Ellis III confirmed that government lawyers suggested a "silent witness" procedure in which the trial participants and the jury would listen to classified evidence that journalists and the public would not be able to hear. He called the approach "fairly novel" but acknowledged that it raised serious constitutional questions that the court would have to resolve. The judge ordered both sides to submit written briefs on the defense's motion objecting to the government's proposal, and he scheduled oral arguments — which will be open to the public — for a month from Friday…..(New York Sun, 16 Mar 07)

Media Fight Request to Close Parts of Israel Lobbyists' Trial

Defense lawyers and media organizations are objecting to what they say is a government effort to bar the public from the upcoming trial of two pro-Israel lobbyists charged with violating U.S. espionage laws….(Washington Post, 15 Mar 07)

A Clash Looms on Secrecy in AIPAC Spy Case

…Messrs. Rosen and Weissman were fired by AIPAC before being indicted in 2005 on charges that they conspired to pass classified information to an Israeli official and to reporters. The pair allegedly solicited and obtained information from a Defense Department analyst, Lawrence Franklin, who pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. The two former AIPAC staffers have pleaded not guilty. They have argued that they had no duty to safeguard classified information since they were not government employees or contractors, but Judge Thomas Ellis III has rejected that position….((New York Sun, 14 Mar 07)

News media coalition seeks to intervene in espionage trial

A coalition of media groups asked for permission to intervene in the AIPAC espionage case today, citing an apparent secret request by the U.S. government to hold a substantial portion of the criminal trial of two lobbyists in secret….(RCFP, 13 Mar 07)

Constitution Clash Looms in Virginia

…Defense lawyers for the two men, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, have objected vigorously to the unusual proposal to present secret evidence. Late today, a consortium of news organizations filed a motion to intervene in the case to restrain any attempt by the government to give the jury access to evidence that the public will not be permitted to examine….(New York Sun, 13 Mar 07)

Defendants Are Dealt a Blow In Aipac Case

A federal judge in Virginia has dealt two blows to the defense of a pair of pro-Israel lobbyists accused of illegally trafficking in classified information. In one ruling this week, Judge Thomas Ellis III rejected defense motions to demand testimony from Israeli government officials. In another decision, the judge refused to suppress statements the FBI obtained in 2004 from the two lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, who were later fired from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee…..(New York Sun, 16 Feb 07)

In AIPAC Case, Judge Declines Probe Into Leaks

A federal judge overseeing a criminal case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists has declined to order an investigation into what the defense alleged were repeated leaks of grand jury information by government officials…."Leaks of information from law enforcement investigations that relate to matters under grand jury investigation do not concern 'matters before the grand jury,' unless, of course, they disclose secret details about proceedings inside the grand jury room," Judge Ellis wrote in a 10-page opinion dated Friday. "The media reports identify no grand jury witnesses, disclose no questions that were asked or would be asked of witnesses in the grand jury, nor do the reports even describe or summarize any grand jury witness' testimony. Indeed, the reports never even mention a grand jury investigation."…(New York Sun, 30 Jan 07)

June 4 date set for AIPAC staffers case

…The trial date is three months shy of three years since Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its top Iran analyst, were made aware of the case when FBI agents raided AIPAC offices on Aug. 27 2004, and almost two years after their August 2005 indictment. AIPAC fired the two men in March 2005….(Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 27 Jan 07)

Burden of Proof in AIPAC Case is "Not Insubstantial," Court Says

A federal court this month denied a motion that would have eased the government's prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are charged with mishandling classified information. Prosecutors had argued that they should not be obliged to prove that the defendants "actually knew the disclosure of the information was potentially harmful to the United States."…(FAS. 30 Nov 06)

Analysis: High bar set in AIPAC case

The government has been set a high bar for conviction in the AIPAC secrets case -- prosecutors must show the two lobbyists charged under espionage laws knew that the disclosure of the material they allegedly passed to reporters and Israeli officials would hurt the United States. The defendants, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, lobbyists for the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, are charged with conspiring with Department of Defense intelligence analyst Larry Franklin to leak U.S. secrets in an apparent effort to influence U.S. policy towards Iran. In a transcript of a recent pre-trial hearing, made available Tuesday, the judge in the case made it clear that prosecutors must prove intention, or what lawyers call "mens rea" -- Latin for "a guilty mind" -- for every element of the conspiracy….(UPI, 30 Nov 06)

Report: FBI In expanded AIPAC probe

…the allegations — along with the upcoming trial of Rosen and Weissman, and the recent book deal signed by two of the pro-Israel lobby’s most prominent and vocal critics, scholars Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer — are likely to trigger increased media and public scrutiny of the pro-Israel lobby’s efforts to influence the decision-making process in Washington…..(Forward/Jewish Daily, 27 Oct 06)

AIPAC case asks, 'Who is a foreign agent?'

… The judge did acknowledge that lobbying activity does enjoy freedom of speech protection under the US Constitution's First Amendment in some cases, but nevertheless ruled that for the purpose of obtaining approval for wiretapping under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Rosen and Weissman's activities could be seen as those of foreign agents…..(Jerusalem Post, 25 Aug 06)

Judge Okays Wiretaps and Searches in AIPAC Lobbyist Case

In an opinion released yesterday, a federal judge said there was plenty of evidence to support federal intelligence-gathering wiretaps and searches in an investigation of two pro-Israel lobbyists charged with conspiring to procure and distribute classified information. Judge Thomas Ellis III upheld warrants issued by the secrecy-shrouded Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and said the evidence obtained can be introduced against the former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman…..(New York Sun, 23 Aug 06)

Leak Investigation Ordered
A federal judge has ordered an investigation into how reporters learned that two pro-Israel lobbyists were under federal investigation before they were formally charged, creating even more scrutiny of the media in a case with broad First Amendment implications…..(Washington Post, 23 Aug 06)

Ruling Raises Bar in Lobbyists' Case
…In a controversial case with wide free-speech implications, two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, were charged with conspiring to obtain national defense information from U.S. government officials and pass it on to members of the media and Israeli government officials….(Washington Post, 19 Aug 06)

AIPAC judge won’t broaden case

The judge in the classified information case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists rejected a prosecution attempt to broaden the indictment. Prosecutors had sought to redefine as classified a document described as unclassified in the original indictment…(Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 14 Aug 06)

AIPAC espionage case won't be dismissed
A US federal district judge in Virginia Thursday denied the request of two former employees of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to dismiss the espionage charges against them…..(Jerusalem Post, 11 Aug 06)

Lobbyists Lose Bid to Dismiss Secrets Case

…Judge Ellis explicitly rejected the argument that the prosecution was unfairly flawed because this practice goes on regularly in Washington. Under that argument, it was a violation of due process to single out the pro-Israel lobbyists for behavior that was generally recognized as acceptable in the capital. The ruling means the case will proceed against the lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Judge Ellis dismissed the defendants’ arguments that the indictment limited their First Amendment rights to learn about the way the government operates and use that information to influence policy….(New York Times, 11 Aug 06)

Judge Rejects Dismissal of Pro-Israel Lobbyists Case

…U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III rejected defense efforts to dismiss the indictments against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. They are charged in what the government calls a conspiracy to obtain classified information and pass it to members of the media and the Israeli government…..(Washington Post, 11 Aug 06)

Lobbyists to Stand Trial in Spy Case

In a ruling with potentially broad implications, a federal judge said Thursday that the Bush administration could use espionage laws to prosecute private citizens who gained access to national defense information….(LA Times, 11 Aug 06)

Federal judge rules Espionage Act constitutional in lobbyists leak case

…Rosen and Weissman asked Ellis to dismiss the charges, arguing that the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates their right to free speech…(Jurist, 11 Aug 06)

Legal Opinion

News in Brief

The trial of two former employees for American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, is being delayed at least until October, following a request by both sides.....(Haaretz, 19 Jul 06)

Indictments, Israel Lobby Critique Place Much-Needed Spotlight on AIPAC

… In the espionage case, former AIPAC officials Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman have been charged with violating the 1917 Espionage Act by receiving and transmitting national defense information. After admitting to having provided Rosen and Weissman with classified material, former Pentagon analyst Lawrence A. Franklin has been sentenced to l2 years in prison…(Washington Report of Middle East Affairs, Jul 06)

Ruling on Legal Bills at KPMG Could Be a Boon to AIPAC Pair

A new ruling that the government improperly pressured an accounting firm, KPMG, not to pay for the legal defense of a group of the firm's employees could be a boon to two pro-Israel lobbyists facing trial in Virginia. In a closely watched case, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that employers usually have an obligation to pay for their employees' legal defense in work-related litigation….(New York Sun, 29 Jun 06)

Aipac Case Impacting Security Clearance

The Pentagon is invoking the prosecution of two pro-Israel lobbyists and a Defense Department analyst for illegal use of classified information as a basis for stripping security clearances from government contractor employees who have dual citizenship in America and Israel or family members living in the Jewish state…..(New York Sun, 17 May 06)

FBI's Israel Interests in Columnist's Files Detailed
The agents asked Feldstein, a former journalist who is writing a book about Anderson, for the material as part of the criminal prosecution of Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former AIPAC lobbyists who were indicted last August on charges of violating the 1917 Espionage Act by receiving and transmitting national defense information…..(Washington Post, 25 Apr 06)

Lawyers for ex-AIPAC officials get green light to subpoena Sec. Rice in spy case

Lawyers for the two former AIPAC officials accused of conspiring to receive and disclose classified defense information got permission on Friday from the judge in the case to subpoena top administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The lawyers for the former lobbyists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, intend to prove that Rice herself spoke with Rosen…..(Haaretz, 23 Apr 06)

Judge in Spy Trial Considers Motions

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said yesterday that constitutional issues surrounding the charges against two former pro-Israeli lobbyists for violating the 1917 Espionage Act represent "a very, very, hard problem" and that he would continue to study the defendants' motion to have them dismissed…..(Washington Post, 22 Apr 06)

FBI is accused of 'trickery' in spy case

Citing what they said was "outrageous" conduct by the FBI, lawyers representing two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee urged a federal judge yesterday to dismiss spying charges against the defendants, who are due to stand trial next month…..(Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr 06)

AIPAC cited in Anderson affair

…The FBI would not confirm the account, which has a glaring inconsistency: the indictment against Rosen and Weissman cites incidents dating to 1999, and Anderson more or less ended his career in 1990….(Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 21 Apr 06)

The Power Player Who Faces Charges for Talking
For more than two decades, Steven J. Rosen sleuthed the tight-lipped government back channels of the United States and Israel for tidbits he could quietly pass to his powerful employer, the pro-Israel lobby called AIPAC…..(Washington Post, 21 Apr 06)

Motion gets 2nd hearing in AIPAC case

…Judge T.S. Ellis of the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, is to hear on Friday for the second time the arguments of both sides regarding the use of the 1917 Espionage Act to prosecute Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, both former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)….(AP/Jerusalem Post, 21 Apr 06)

In Rare Move, 2nd AIPAC Dismissal Hearing Set

The judge overseeing the prosecution of two former pro-Israel lobbyists charged with violating the 1917 Espionage Act has set an unusual second oral argument for tomorrow on the defendants' motion to dismiss the charges…..(Washington Post, 20 Apr 06)

F.B.I. Is Seeking to Search Papers of Dead Reporter

…Mr. Anderson's family has refused to allow a search of 188 boxes, the files of a well-known reporter who had long feuded with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and had exposed plans by the Central Intelligence Agency to kill Fidel Castro, the machinations of the Iran-contra affair and the misdemeanors of generations of congressmen……(New York Times, 19 Apr 05)

Trial Unnerves Some U.S. Jewish Leaders

The coming trial of two former representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for alleged violations of the Espionage Act is fueling concern among Jewish leaders that Israel and the Jewish-American community increasingly are being blamed for the Bush administration's troubles in the Middle East….(Wall Street Journal, 14 Apr 06)

Lobbyists' Prosecutors Pointing to Spy Case
Federal prosecutors have reached back 60 years to a case involving a convicted Soviet spy as a precedent for indicting two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) under the 1917 Espionage Act for receiving and transmitting national defense information. The spy, Mikhail Gorin, a Soviet citizen, came to the United States in 1936 as an employee of Intourist, the Moscow-run tourist agency, whose salary was paid by the Russian government, according to court documents in the early-1940s case…..(Washington Post, 11 Apr 06)

Judge Hints at Possible Dismissal of Spy Case

…Steve Rosen, AIPAC''s former foreign-policy director, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, were indicted last August on charges that they relayed classified information to staffers, as well as journalists and diplomats at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.…..(Jewish Exponent, 30 Mar 06)

Judge hints he could dismiss AIPAC case
A federal judge has hinted that he might dismiss the classified information case against two former officials of the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee….(Jewish Week, 29 Mar 06)

Espionage Law's Merits Tied Into Ex-Lobbyists' Case

In January, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III raised the possibility that the law may not be sensibly written, as he sentenced a former Defense Department employee, Lawrence A. Franklin, to 12 years in prison for giving classified information to the two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC…..(Washington Post, 24 Mar 06)

At Issue: Classified Leaks

The upcoming trial of two pro-Israeli lobbyists accused of sharing classified U.S. government information with Israeli diplomats is causing anxiety with