I wondered if the FBI would get to the bottom of this. Watch for the "Neocon" articles now.
Pentagon analyst charged with disclosing secrets
Wed May 4, 2005 01:46 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Defense Department analyst was arrested on Wednesday on charges of disclosing top-secret information on potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
Lawrence Franklin surrendered to the FBI and faces charges of disclosing classified U.S. national defense information in 2003 to two individuals who sources said worked at the time at the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The Justice Department, in announcing the case, said that Franklin, 58, faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Franklin, a Defense Department employee since 1979, worked on the Iran desk within the office of the secretary of defense at the time the government says he disclosed the information.
The criminal complaint and an accompanying FBI affidavit, filed in federal court in Virginia, said that Franklin on June 26, 2003, had lunch with the two individuals at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, site of the Pentagon.
At the lunch, it said, Franklin disclosed classified information, designated top secret, related to potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. Neither of the two had the security clearance to receive that information, it said.
FRANKLIN: DON'T 'USE' THE INFORMATION
Franklin told the two individuals that the information was "highly classified" and asked them not to "use" it, according to the court documents.
The two individuals were not identified by name in the court documents. But AIPAC last month dismissed two senior employees, policy director Steve Rosen and senior analyst Keith Weissman, who were involved in the investigation, sources familiar with the issue have said.
The Justice Department said its investigation was continuing. AIPAC declined to comment, said spokesman Patrick Dorton.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Channel One television Israel had no involvement in the case.
"Israel does not carry out any operation in the United States that would be liable, God forbid, to harm its closest ally. Therefore all the brouhaha around this matter has nothing to do with the State of Israel," he said.
The affidavit also said that Franklin disclosed, without authorization, classified U.S. government information to a foreign official and to members of the news media on other occasions. It gave no further details.
In addition, according to the FBI affidavit, approximately 83 separate classified U.S. government documents were found during a search on June 30, 2004, of Franklin's home in Kearneysville, West Virginia.
The dates of these documents spanned three decades. Of the 83 documents, 38 of them were top-secret, according to the affidavit signed by FBI agent Catherine Hanna.
The Justice Department said Franklin had a top-secret security clearance until it was suspended on June 30, 2004, when he was under investigation.
On that day, Franklin in a voluntary interview with FBI agents admitted that he provided the classified information to the two individuals, according to the affidavit.
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