AIPAC Subpoenas To Put Bush Team Under Scrutiny

Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Subpoenas issued to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and other top Bush administration officials could end up shedding unprecedented light on the Bush administration's inner workings and the government's dealings with the pro-Israel lobby.

In an unusually broad ruling Friday in the classified information case against two ex-officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a federal judge allowed the defense to subpoena 15 administration officials over the objections of the Bush administration.

In addition to Rice and Hadley, the list also includes Elliot Abrams, the deputy national security adviser who is also the administration's top policy official on the Middle East; Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state; Paul Wolfowitz, the former deputy secretary of defense; and Douglas Feith, a former undersecretary of defense.

U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Va., not only ruled as relevant government conversations with the two defendants -- Steve Rosen, AIPAC's former foreign policy boss, and Keith Weissman, his deputy and the lobby's top Iran analyst -- but also discussions that involved only U.S. officials.



Read more: http://www.jta.org:80/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/20071104subpoenasaipac.html

Wake me if this gets anywhere.

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"The government’s prosecution of two former pro-Israel lobbyists was dealt a major setback Friday when a federal judge authorized subpoenas for senior government officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz.

The subpoenas are a major victory for defendants Steve Rosen, former policy director for the American Israel Political Affairs Committee, and Keith Weissman, the lobby’s former Iran specialist. The decision forces administration officials to testify under oath on details of their conversations with Aipac lobbyists in which they are alleged to have provided classified information.

The two Aipac lobbyists are on trial for allegedly receiving classified information from government officials and relaying it to diplomats, journalists and other Aipac staff members. Their attorneys are seeking testimony from Rice and others in order to make the case that passing on classified information to lobbyists was routine conduct in Washington. The prosecution filed a series of motions asking that all subpoenas for government officials be dismissed.

The ruling by T.S. Ellis III, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, could jeopardize the entire case put forward by the Department of Justice more than three years ago. The administration now faces a tough dilemma. It could follow the court’s decision and allow senior officials to take the stand, but this might open up to public view closed-door discussions between government officials and pro-Israel lobbyists and bring to light inter-agency disputes regarding American policy toward Iran."

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"The judge accepted the defendants’ view that in order to prove guilt, the prosecution must show to the court that Rosen and Weissman had a criminal intent when they received and passed on classified information. If the defense can demonstrate, by subpoenaing Rice and other officials, that classified information was regularly conveyed to Aipac by the highest-ranking government officials, it would help them make the case that Rosen and Weissman had no way of knowing they were breaking the law by receiving other information from former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin."

http://www.forward.com/articles/11953/

You never know if these guys will be found with stabs to the back and labeled suicide. Or maybe they killed each other.