Declassified Documents Shed New Light on Zionist AIPAC Espionage

on AIPAC Espionage Prosecution - IRmepWed Aug 20, 2008 8:00am EDT WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than one thousanddocuments released under Freedom of Information Act filings reveal details ofa secret battle that raged between founders of the American Israel PublicAffairs Committee (AIPAC) and top US law enforcement officials. The new book"America's Defense Line: The Justice Department's Battle to Register theIsrael Lobby as Agents of a Foreign Government" reproduces and analyzes thesefiles and their troubling implications for rule of law in the United States."America's Defense Line" also reveals stunning details of a preferential dealengineered within the highest levels of the US Department of Justice over thecourse of three years and implemented in 1965 -- but kept secret from theAmerican public until today. Old documents and new analysis from the Centerfor Policy and Law Enforcement raise many questions about the upcoming October2008 AIPAC espionage trial.In 2005, Colonel Lawrence Franklin was indicted alongside two executives ofAIPAC for allegedly violating the 1917 Espionage Act. Franklin later pledguilty to passing AIPAC a classified presidential directive and other secretsconcerning America's Iran policy. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman of AIPACallegedly forwarded the highly sensitive information to Israeli governmentofficials and select members of Washington's media establishment. This covertleaking appears to be one of many AIPAC tactics designed to encourage tougherU.S. policies toward Iran, from financial boycotts to naval blockades andpossibly even military strikes.On October 28, 2008, government prosecutors are scheduled to appeal the rulingjudge's order that they must prove the alleged AIPAC leaks of national defenseinformation actually harmed the United States. The 1917 Espionage Act actuallyrequires a much lower standard of proof: "the injury of the United States orto the advantage of a foreign country."According to Grant F. Smith, the declassified documents bolster theprosecution's position that the Espionage Act should be tightly interpreted asit was written. "In the early 1960s, the Attorney General found that theIsrael lobby was acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Israel andordered it to register. Nevertheless, after a similar three-year period ofdelays and appeals, AIPAC's predecessor was allowed to file a secret ForeignAgents Registration Act (FARA) statement, our nation's first exception to thatvery important public disclosure law. Forcing today's prosecutors to operateunder a higher standard of evidence smacks of institutionalized preferentialtreatment for a lobby that has serially engaged in activities harmful to theUnited States."Federal, state and local law enforcement officials may request a complimentaryhard copy of "America's Defense Line" by sending their agency's mailingaddress to info@IRmep.org from a government email domain. Complimentary bookswill be sent only while supplies last.Members of the public can purchase the hardcover edition of "America's DefenseLine" for $29.95 at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other fine bookstores. The340-page report's ISBN number is 0-9764437-2-4.About the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc., www.IRmep.org:IRmep is a Washington-based nonprofit that studies US policy formulationtoward the Middle East. IRmep's Center for Policy & Law Enforcement examineshow balanced and vigorous law enforcement can improve trade, economicdevelopment and America's international standing.SOURCE Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy