Jerusalem Post
FBI may interview Wolfowitz in Pentagon 'mole' case
Sun Aug 29, 2004 16:32
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Jerusalem Post
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FBI may interview Wolfowitz in Pentagon 'mole' case
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By JANINE ZACHARIA AND ARIEH O'SULLIVAN mailto:editors@jpost.com

Aug. 29, 2004

WASHINGTON

The FBI is broadening its investigation into whether a mid-level Pentagon official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense passed classified material regarding internal policy deliberations on Iran to two staffers at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee www.aipac.org (AIPAC), who in turn provided the information to Israel.

The FBI's counterintelligence unit is in communication with Larry Franklin, the Pentagon official suspected of passing secrets to Israel and is seeking to gain his cooperation in their espionage investigation, government officials told the New York Times.

The paper also reported that a government official who has been briefed on the investigation said FBI officials had earlier expressed an interest in interviewing two of Mr. Franklin's superiors, Douglas Feith, the under secretary of defense for policy, and Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, although there is no sign that they are a focus of the investigation. It could not be learned whether the FBI had decided to go ahead with those interviews.

According to the Washington Post, officials in the Pentagon say that it is not yet clear whether the case will develop into a charge of espionage, or whether investigations will result in lesser charges such as improper release of classified information or mishandling of government documents.

Sources in Jerusalem vehemently denied any Israeli espionage in the US, terming as an "internal US political story" the reports http://makeashorterlink.com/?T23132A29 that a mid-level Pentagon official is under investigation for allegedly passing classified material to AIPAC, which in turn allegedly passed it on to Israel.

Uzi Arad, a former senior official in the Mossad spy agency, said the allegations were leaked to hurt the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

"The way it was reported, they pointed at people like Doug Feith or other defense officials who have long been under attack within the American bureaucracy," Arad told Israel Radio.

Larry Franklin, the alleged informant, worked as a mid-level Pentagon official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Reportedly Franklin had traveled to Israel a number of times, and spent a period of time during his service in the US Air Force Reserve in Israel working as a specialist in foreign political-military affairs.

Security sources in Israel confirmed Sunday morning that Larry Franklin, the suspected "mole" in the Pentagon, did in fact have work ties with Jerusalem, but declared that the relationship most certainly did not deviate from standard diplomatic contact, Israel Radio reported.

CBS Evening News led its broadcast Friday night saying the FBI has a "full-fledged espionage investigation underway" and that the FBI believes it has "solid evidence" that a "suspected mole" in the Pentagon "supplied Israel with classified materials that include secret White House policy deliberations on Iran."

Israel immediately denied the espionage allegation. "We deny these allegations. The United States is Israel's most cherished friend and ally. We have a strong, ongoing, working relationship at all levels and in no way would Israel do anything to impair this relationship," said David Siegel, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington.

Earlier, the embassy described the allegations as "false and outrageous."

AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel lobby, also denied any wrongdoing. "Any allegation of criminal conduct by AIPAC or our employees is false and baseless. Neither AIPAC nor any of its employees has violated any laws or rules, nor has AIPAC or its employees ever received information they believed was secret or classified," the group said in a statement.

"AIPAC is cooperating fully with the governmental authorities. It has provided documents and information to the government and has made staff available for interviews."

Israel's defense establishment said it conducted a thorough examination over the weekend with all security and intelligence bodies to verify the veracity of reports that a Pentagon employee passed on secrets to Israel.

"The examination revealed what we expected," said a senior defense official. "There are no sanctioned espionage operations going on against the United States. There is no truth to these reports."

The official, who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity, said that the entire story was dubious from the outset. He noted that Israel and the United States are very close strategic allies and there is enormous sharing of intelligence between the two countries.

"We have very good, excellent working relations with the Americans, and we are very discreet about it. There is no need to operate (spies) in the Pentagon or anywhere else in the United States." The senior official said. "Also, it wouldn't be in our interest to take actions that would jeopardize these relations that we've built up over the years," he added.

The official added that they were speaking in the name of the Defense establishment, and that any official statement from the government needed to come from the prime minister's office or the foreign ministry.

The investigation has been ongoing for a year, according to several news reports. And the Pentagon, in a statement issued late Friday, said it has been cooperating with the Department of Justice on this matter "for an extended period of time."

"It is the D.O.D (Department of Defense's) understanding that the investigation within the D.O.D is limited in its scope," it said.

Investigation part of a wider probe

Newsweek reports that the investigation was launched after agents monitoring a conversation between an Israeli Embassy official and an AIPAC lobbyist noticed a Pentagon employee walking in. The FBI shortly after began to follow Franklin and even allegedly saw him trying to pass a classified US policy document on Iran to one of its surveillance targets. But his alleged confederate was "too smart" and refused to take it, the Newsweek report states. The paper believes Franklin's motive were ideological rather than financial. "For whatever reason, the guy hates Iran passionately," one official told Newsweek.

In fact, the FBI's investigation is part of a wider investigation of the use of classified material by civilians working in the Pentagon officials told AFP. The investigation, which has been ongoing for two years, also includes White House and State Department employees, and it is aimed at testing the level of secrecy maintained by Pentagon employees.

Since June, federal agents have been investigating whether Pentagon officials gave classified information to former Iraqi exile leader Ahmed Chalabi, according to AFP. Feith's office had close ties to Chalabi and advocated the now-discredited theory that Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaida, an argument used to push the case for war. Feith's office was also instrumental in post-war planning, now seen as inadequate.

AP reports that the investigation - headed by the Virginia Attorney General's office - is being conducted by the FBI's anti-espionage department, who are employing state-of-the-art hi-tech equipment and have already examined Franklin's computer.

According to the Washington Post, arrests are pending.

"We have very good, excellent working relations with the Americans, and we are very discreet about it. There is no need to operate [spies] in the Pentagon or anywhere else in the United States," said the senior official. "Also, it wouldn't be in our interest to take actions that would jeopardize these relations that we've built up over the years."

Sources in Jerusalem said that one way to slander Bush is to say that he relies too heavily on the American Jewish lobby, and highlight that he is surrounded by Jews whose first loyalty is to Israel, not the US.

The sources said this type of story has the capacity of harming Bush somewhat with undecided voters, who may see it as another instance of Bush bungling sensitive security matters and of "succumbing to the Jewish lobby."

The sources said it is quite possible that Larry Franklin, the alleged Pentagon informant, met with AIPAC officials as part of routine conversations lobbyists have with officials, but that it is inconceivable that this could be construed as espionage.

Regardless, officials in Jerusalem believe the story could cause Israel short-term public relations damage. But, they believe, if there are no new, dramatic revelations, the attention will disappear by the end of the week.

Diplomatic officials said a decision was taken in Jerusalem to let David Siegel, the spokesman at Israel's embassy in Washington, deal with the story, and not to formally respond to it from Jerusalem. This itself is an indication that Jerusalem sees this as a local American story, and not one involving Israel.

Arieh O'Sullivan and AP contributed to this report.

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