Haaretz
Adar2 15, 5765
WASHINGTON - Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin
was reinstated a few weeks ago, after sitting at home for half a year and
being barred from returning to his job on the Iranian desk in the
Department of Defense's policy division. Franklin was at the center of a
lengthy FBI investigation after suspicions arose that he transferred
classified information about U.S. policy on Iran to members of the
pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee).
In the seven months since the affair made headlines on the CBS
evening news, the investigation has been kept under tight wraps, but its
ramifications are already being felt.
While Franklin is back at
work, and, say well-placed sources, is expected to reach a plea bargain,
the spotlight has moved to the AIPAC officials - two senior members were
suspended for the duration of the case and four other senior officials
were forced to testify at length before the special investigative jury in
Virginia, whose proceedings are classified.
Even if the
investigation is nowhere near completion, it has definitely reached a
crossroads, at which investigators must decide on the suspects in the case
- Larry Franklin alone; Franklin and two AIPAC officials, Steve Rosen and
Keith Weissman; or whether, on top of those three, the entire AIPAC
organization has acted unlawfully.
Sources close to the
investigation suggested recently that it would end in a plea bargain.
Franklin would plead to a lesser crime of unauthorized transfer of
information, Rosen and Weissman would be charged with receiving classified
information unlawfully, and AIPAC would remain unstained. Franklin's
lawyer, Plato Cacheris, Thursday denied the reports, stating: "We have not
entered any plea of defense with the Justice Department."
AIPAC
refused to say anything about the possibility of a plea bargain.
As
for Franklin's reinstatement, a Pentagon spokesman, Maj. Paul Swiergrosz,
confirmed that "Dr. Franklin is still a U.S. government employee," but
declined to identify his position. Haaretz has learned that Franklin has
been moved to a post different from the one he held previously and kept
from handling classified information.
From AIPAC's standpoint, the
issue at hand is containment: can the affair be limited to Rosen and
Weissman, or is the investigation directed at the lobby as a whole? It is
clear that the FBI has as its objective an extensive investigation against
AIPAC. Investigators have been looking into AIPAC's entire manner of
operating, not just in the Franklin instance. An official questioned twice
by the FBI, as a witness, was astounded by investigators' intimate
familiarity with AIPAC. "They know everything there. They asked very
precise questions regarding the organization's operations," he
said.
The intended breadth of the investigation is also evident
from the FBI's dramatic moves - raiding AIPAC offices in December and
issuing subpoenas to its four top executives. Executive Director Howard
Kohr, Managing Director Richard Fishman, Research Director Rafael Danziger
and Communications Director Renee Rothstein appeared before the
investigative jury and were questioned at length.
Investigators
also reportedly tried to use Franklin, after the affair erupted, to
incriminate as many senior AIPAC officials as possible. The Jerusalem Post
reported four months ago that investigators informed Franklin of the
suspicions against him and asked for his cooperation. In a sting
operation, he received information from the FBI agents that Iran was
planning to attack Israelis operating in the Kurdish region in Iraq.
Franklin, at the FBI's instructions, telephoned AIPAC's Rosen and Weissman
and gave them the information, and they rushed to pass it on to Israeli
diplomats, thereby falling into the FBI trap.
AIPAC refuses to
comment on the case, saying, "We do not comment on personnel matters." A
spokesman for AIPAC, Patrick Dorton, said Thursday that "it would not be
appropriate for AIPAC to comment on issues that have to do with an ongoing
federal investigation."
The suspension of the two AIPAC officials,
though never officially explained, is certainly a key turning point in the
case. According to one assessment, AIPAC understands that regardless of
whether a plea bargain is reached, it will be tough to get those two off
the hook, so AIPAC is keeping its distance for now. Their lawyer, Nathan
Lewin, refused requests from Haaretz for a comment.
A source close
to the case said that since the investigation began, AIPAC's ability to
maintain good ties with U.S. administration officials has suffered. While
Congress was quick to express support for AIPAC, its activists began
having trouble getting appointments. "Obviously, after a case like this
blows up, no one's in a hurry to return your calls," said the
source.