Court Asked To Drop China Spy Case
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WASHINGTON – Attorneys for a woman accused of spying for China have asked a federal court in Los Angeles to throw out the government’s case against her because prosecutors blocked access to a key witness.
Katrina Leung, 50, of San Marino, Calif., was indicted last June on charges of unauthorized possession and copying secret defense-related documents. The indictment alleged that Ms. Leung, a naturalized American who was born in China, knew that the misuse of the documents would harm America or benefit a foreign power. She does not face the more serious charge of espionage.
Ms. Leung has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her attorneys have described her as “a loyal American citizen.”
For the FBI, Ms. Leung’s case is both sensitive and embarrassing. For two decades, she served as a key informant for the agency on China-related matters. The FBI also paid her $1.7 million. During that period, Ms. Leung had lengthy sexual affairs with two FBI agents. Law enforcement officials now suspect she may have been a double agent for China during some or all of that time.
The latest legal dispute centers on prosecutors’ treatment of one of the FBI agents, James Smith. A senior counterintelligence agent, he was Ms. Leung’s longtime handler and, unbeknownst to the agency, one of her lovers.
Smith, 60, was indicted last year on charges that included gross negligence in handling classified documents that Ms. Leung allegedly copied. In a plea bargain in May, he entered a guilty plea to one felony charge of making a false statement to the government by failing to disclose his relationship with Ms. Leung. As part of the deal, Smith agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and his lawyers agreed to drop any information-sharing agreement they had with the attorneys for Ms. Leung.
Ms. Leung’s defense lawyers, John Vandevelde and Janet Levine, are objecting to part of the plea agreement they said bars Smith from speaking with them about the matter. “This unconscionable, unconstitutional, and unethical action requires dismissal of the case with prejudice,” they wrote in a motion filed with the court earlier this month. The defense attorneys called Smith an essential witness for their case and charged that the alleged gag on him amounted to “prosecutorial misconduct.” They also accused prosecutors of showing favoritism toward the former FBI agent, alleging that the plea deal “continues a gross and unfair disparity in treatment between Mr. Smith and Ms. Leung.”
In a response filed last week, prosecutors acknowledged that the language in the plea agreement was “inartfully drawn and ambiguous when viewed in isolation.” They also attached a copy of a letter they sent to Smith’s lawyers indicating that Smith was free to talk to Ms. Leung’s attorneys.
However, according to prosecutors, Smith’s lawyers said they always advise their clients in such situations not to talk about the case. One of Smith’s attorneys, Brian Sun, did not return a call seeking comment.
Under the law, prosecutors cannot prevent Ms. Leung’s attorneys from interviewing Smith.
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper is scheduled to hear arguments about the dispute. The court has set a trial date for Ms. Leung in May, but Mr. Vandevelde said yesterday he expects further delays.
Ms. Leung, who described herself as a business consultant, was a generous donor to and fund-raiser for Republican political efforts in Southern California. In recent years, she gave about $25,000 to GOP campaigns and committees. One of the recipients of Ms. Leung’s donations, Rep. David Dreier, appointed her to the California Republican Party’s central committee. She also reportedly aided prosecutors who were investigating one of her friends in connection with illegal foreign contributions to the Democratic Party in 1996.
Last year, Senator Lieberman wrote to the Justice Department urging it to thoroughly investigate Ms. Leung’s gifts to GOP causes.
A key prosecutor on the case, Michael Emmick, also has an interesting political history. He was on the staff of the best-known independent counsel, Kenneth Starr. In that job, Mr. Emmick encouraged a former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, to cooperate with the investigation that led to President Clinton’s impeachment hearings.