Prosecutors, Defense Spar Over Limits in Aipac Case
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Prosecutors and lawyers for two men accused of trafficking in classified information are arguing over which subjects should be off-limits at a future trial for the two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman.
According to court records, defense lawyers filed motions seeking to bar the prosecution from making any mention of a former Navy intelligence analyst serving a life sentence for spying for Israel, Jonathan Pollard. The defense also wants to preclude discussion of the fact that in 2005 the two men were fired by Aipac, which was under pressure from the Justice Department to release them. Prosecutors are asking Judge Thomas Ellis III to prevent the defense from arguing that Messrs. Rosen and Weissman acted legally because they had permission from government officials to access certain sensitive government information and to relay it to others. Prosecutors pointed out that one of the officials from whom the defendants’ claimed to have received permission is a former Pentagon analyst who already pled guilty in the case, Lawrence Franklin. The prosecution also said Franklin effectively told Mr. Weissman that passing on the secrets was illegal. “You need to know, this is risky for you to hear, to hear this information … because it’s Agency stuff that’s highly classified …. It can get you in trouble, too,” Franklin said, according to a court filing, which seemed to quote a taped conversation from 2004.
Prosecutors are seeking to bar the defense from calling eight expert witnesses, including former officials and a former New York Times editor, to testify that rules for classifying information are inconsistently, and sometimes gratuitously, applied. The prosecution also warned that if the witnesses testify about leaks of classified information, the government will be entitled to details about who was involved in those acts, which could be illegal.
Messrs. Rosen and Weissman have pleaded not guilty. Their trial was set to begin Tuesday but has been postponed indefinitely for a prosecution appeal.
