http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9524480.htm
FBI espionage probe goes beyond Israeli allegations, sources say
By Warren P. Strobel
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON -
An FBI probe into the handling of highly classified material by
Pentagon civilians is broader than previously reported, and goes well
beyond allegations that a single mid-level analyst gave a top-secret
Iran policy document to Israel, three sources familiar with the
investigation said Saturday.
The probe, which has been going on for more than two years, also has
focused on other civilians in the Secretary of Defense's office, said
the sources, who spoke on condition they not be identified, but who
have first-hand knowledge of the subject.
In addition, one said, FBI investigators in recent weeks have
conducted interviews to determine whether Pentagon officials gave
highly classified U.S. intelligence to a leading Iraqi exile group,
the Iraqi National Congress, which may in turn have passed it on to
Iran.
INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied his group was involved in any
wrongdoing.
The linkage, if any, between the two leak investigations, remains
unclear.
But they both center on the office of Undersecretary of Defense
Douglas Feith, the Pentagon's No. 3 official.
Feith's office, which oversees policy matters, has been the source of
numerous controversies over the last three years.
His office had close ties to Chalabi and was responsible for post-war
Iraq planning that the administration has now acknowledged was
inadequate.
Before the war, Feith and his aides pushed the now-discredited theory
that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaida.
No one is known to have been charged with any wrongdoing in the
current investigation.
Officials cautioned that it could result in charges of mishandling
classified information, rather than the more serious charge of
espionage.
The Israeli government on Saturday strenuously denied it had spied on
the United States, its main benefactor on the global scene.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel
lobby that top officials said is suspected of serving as a conduit to
Israel for the mid-level analyst, also has denied any wrongdoing.
That analyst, Larry Franklin, works for Feith's deputy, William Luti,
and served as an important - albeit low-profile - advisor on Iran
issues to Feith and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Franklin, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who lives in
West Virginia, could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Investigators are said to be looking at whether Franklin acted with
authorization from his superiors, one official said.
Two sources disclosed Saturday that the information believed to have
been passed to Israel was the draft of a top-secret presidential order
on Iran policy, known as a National Security Presidential Directive.
Because of disagreements over Iran policy among President Bush's
advisors, the document is not believed to have ever been completed.
Having a draft of the document - which some Pentagon officials may
have believed was insufficiently tough toward Iran - would have
allowed Israel to influence U.S. policy while it was still being made.
Iran is among Israel's main security concerns.
Two or three staff members of AIPAC have been interviewed in
connection with the case. In a prepared statement, AIPAC said any
allegation of criminal conduct was "false and baseless." It is
"cooperating fully," with investigators, AIPAC's statement said.
Israeli officials insisted they stopped spying on the United States
after the exposure of Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested in 1985 and
sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to discuss the
continuing investigation.
"Obviously any time there is an allegation of this nature, it's a
serious matter," he told reporters traveling with Bush in Ohio.
In a statement issued late Friday, the Pentagon said it "has been
cooperating with the Department of Justice on this matter for an
extended period of time. It is the DoD (Department of Defense)
understanding that the investigation within the DoD is limited in its
scope."
But other sources said the FBI investigation is more wide-ranging than
initial news reports suggested.
They said it has involved interviews of current and former officials
at the White House, Pentagon and State Department.
Investigators have asked about the security practices of several other
Defense Department civilians, they said.
Franklin's name surfaced in news reports last year when it became
known that he and another Pentagon Middle East specialist, Harold
Rhode, met in late 2001 with Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms
merchant who played a role in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said publicly last year that nothing
came of the meeting, which reportedly was brokered by former National
Security Council official Michael Ledeen.
Rhode could not be reached for comment Saturday.
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How deep does this go?
Harry
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