http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/politics/06spy.html
Pentagon Analyst Admits Sharing Secret Data By ERIC LICHTBLAU Published: October 6, 2005 ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 5 - A senior Defense Department analyst admitted Wednesday that he shared secret military information with two pro-Israeli lobbyists and an Israeli official in an effort to create a "backchannel" to the Bush administration on Middle East policy. The analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin, pleaded guilty in federal court here to three criminal counts for improperly retaining and disclosing classified information, and he gave the first account of his motives and thinking in establishing secret liaisons with people outside the government. The offenses carry a maximum of 25 years in prison, but as part of a plea agreement, prosecutors are expected to recommend leniency for Mr. Franklin in return for his cooperation in a continuing investigation in the January trial of the two lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman. The lobbyists were dismissed last year by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, after the investigation became public. Mr. Franklin, 58, said in entering his guilty pleas that he had shared with the lobbyists "my frustrations with a particular policy" during repeated meetings from 2002 to 2004. He did not divulge the particular policy, but officials in the case said he was referring to the Bush administration's dealings with Iran. Some of the more hawkish officials in the administration have pushed for a harder line in confronting Iran about its nuclear ambitions, but the administration has been deeply divided about how to engage with the country. Mr. Franklin worked for a time as a senior analyst on Iran under Douglas Feith, a former under secretary at the Pentagon. Mr. Franklin said in court that he believed the Aipac lobbyists had access and influence at the National Security Council, which coordinates policy issues for the president and was deeply involved in setting the administration's course on Iran. He said he hoped the lobbyists could help influence policy by passing on information that he knew was classified. "I asked them to use their contacts to get this information backchannels to people at the N.S.C.," he said. Mr. Franklin was also applying for a position at the N.S.C. in early 2003 and asked Mr. Rosen to "put in a good word" for him, according to a filing on Wednesday by prosecutors as part of the plea agreement. Mr. Rosen said, "I'll see what I can do." In addition to his contacts with the lobbyists, Mr. Franklin admitted meeting with an official with the Israeli Embassy and passing on classified information regarding weapons tests in the Middle East, military activities in Iraq and other issues. Mr. Franklin said he assumed that such "tidbits" were already known to Israel, and he said that the Israeli official "gave me far more information than I gave him." Prosecutors said Mr. Franklin knew that the classified information he shared "could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation." But Mr. Franklin said, "It was never my intent to harm the United States." He said he did not even consider one of the documents cited by prosecutors to have been classified, but when he started to discuss the document in open court - referring to a one-page fax with a "list of murders," apparently in Iran - lawyers from both sides jumped up to cut him off. The judge, T. S. Ellis, agreed at the urging of prosecutors to put Mr. Franklin's reference to the list under seal in the court record. Mr. Franklin will lose his government pension, but his wife will be allowed to keep her survivor's benefits from the government in the deal, officials said. Mr. Franklin has been financially struggling since his arrest last year, and he told the court he has been working as a waiter and bartender at a pub, and as a valet at a racetrack, and has also been teaching courses on Asian history and terrorism at Shepherd University near his home in West Virginia. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpgUKB/pzNLAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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