Posted on 05/04/2005 8:49:52 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI arrested a Pentagon analyst Wednesday on charges that he illegally passed classified information about potential attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq to employees of a pro-Israel group.
Larry Franklin, 58, of Kearneysville, W. Va., turned himself in Wednesday morning, FBI spokeswoman Debra Weierman said. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Virginia later Wednesday, Weierman said.
Franklin, who specialized on Iran and Middle Eastern affairs, allegedly gave the information to two people not entitled to receive it at a luncheon meeting at a restaurant in Arlington, Va., in June 2003, the Justice Department said in a statement. The people at the lunch were employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity because they are not identified in court papers.
FBI agents twice searched AIPAC offices as part of the investigation about whether Israel improperly obtained classified U.S. information on Iran. They also have interviewed two AIPAC employees about whether Franklin gave them classified information that wound up in Israel's hands.
AIPAC said it gave the FBI files related to those same two employees, who previously were identified - Steve Rosen, the director of research, and Keith Weissman, deputy director of foreign policy issues.
Neither still works for the group.
AIPAC declined to comment Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear how the information related to Iran.
What foreign power did Sandy provide that info to? I'm not sure the situations are comparable (which is not a defense of shoeboy's actions).
Good Morning, Calpernia!
I think the story is hooey--But I will note that yesterday the NYT which tried so hard to bring down the Administration with its screams of outrage on Plame, obtained a classified military document and printed it--giving our enemies a detailed list of troop and material deployments. And I haven't heard a peep of outrage or a word of an investigation.
I'm not sure the situations are comparable
Agreed, This guy is big time toast.
I was just musing SanDyBungler.. Altho, during his reign of incompetence, what info did he provide to foreign powers and at whose urging?
Wouldn't We all like to know more about North Korea and China and nuclear and missile guidance technology transfers and such?
It is incredible how much slack lefty operatives get from the media, courts and even the WH. jmo.
It doesn't matter - once that information is in someone else's hands, we no longer have control over how it is disseminated. Jonathan Pollard gave some of the most sensitive intelligence information possible to the Israelis. Some of that information was then gained by the KGB, either because the KGB had infiltrated the Mossad, or because (as is rumored) the Israelis traded it in exchange for Jews living in the Soviet Union.
The Israelis may be our allies, but they are not us, and they will act in their own best interests, which don't always coincide with our best interests.
>>>>And Sandy Burglar gets a pat on the wrist..
Burglar is 'cooperating' in an investigation. He isn't off the hook.
What is flash paper?
How are you Biglook?
How are those islands?
Now something like that would trouble me more than this.
>>>Some of that information was then gained by the KGB, either because the KGB had infiltrated the Mossad, or because (as is rumored) the Israelis traded it in exchange for Jews living in the Soviet Union.
What????
That place in Israel, shoot, forgot the name, Golan Cipel is from there, is infiltrated with Russian Mafia. Why would Israel want to compromise themselves like that?
Could the analyst have been swapping information?
That's not his job, nor does he have the authority to do so.
THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN ISRAEL FOR STABBING THE US IN THE BACK.
No.
Absolutely not.
One way or another, the KGB gained information from the Israelis we didn't want them to have. This is why we don't simply share everything willy-nilly with allies - you have no way of knowing where it goes after it leaves your hands. Whether this guy was trying to trade or not doesn't really matter - he's not a freelancer, and it's not his decision about what gets shared and what doesn't.
Ah, I think I get it now. I don't know everyone's area of expertise in these positions. Makes more sense now. Thanks.
I recall reading sometime back that this was a setup by the govt, can't remember the details now.
I understand better now. I didn't realize the position he had was limited like that. Thanks.
But you'd be screaming bloody murder if Israel had info on 9/11 that they didn't give to the US...
You're right, mainly because Israel only exists as a result of the financial and political support of the United States (which is why AIPAC exists in the first place). But the opposite is not the case . . . if Israel didn't exist, most Americans wouldn't even notice a difference in their lives.
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