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FBI's Pentaoon Probe Is Another Burden For Rumsfeld
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UNCLASSIFIED· FOyO
Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)
August 29, 2004
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FBI INFORMATION CONTAI~mD
'HEREIN IS U]JCLASSIFIED
DATE
07-29-2010 BY 60324 uc baw/sab/lsg
FBI's Pentagon Probe .Is, Ano·ther Bur(len For Rumsfeld
Dow Jones Newswires
WASHINGTON(AP)·-The FBI investigation into whether·a Peritagon analyst passed classified
information to Israel is yet another political weight on Defense Secretary Donald H,. Rumsfeld, still
fending offcriticism ove~ the Iraq war and prisoner abuse.
It is not clear whether the investigation will result in charges ofespionage at the Pentagon. At the least,
the pro~ complicates Rumsfeld's position as congressionatc9Jn.mittees that oversee the Qefense
Depart~ent
prepare for more hearings on the abuse scandal.
Rumsfeld has no~ commented publicly o~ the FBI's investigation. Whil.e the FBI has spent more than,a
year on the case, it only became p~blic
Friday.
Officials~
speaking on condition ofanonymi~,say the inyestigation is foc:used on Lawren~e A. ~ranklin,
an analyst ofIranian affairs who works in a policy office headed by pouglas J. Feith, the undersecretary,
for policy. Feith ~as been accused.by Democrats of see~ingto manipulate intelligence.to help make the
case for going to'-war in Iraq. Congressional investigati9ns hav~ found no eVidence ofthat.
" -
Th~ New York Times reported on its.Intemet site in a storY for Monday's editions that government
officials say.Franklin had been coopeiatiJig with federal agents for several weeks and was'preparing to
Jead them to contacts inside the Israeli gov~rnment
when work ofthe investigation, first reported by CBS
News, was leaked late last week.
The Israeli gove~ent has denied spying o~ the United States.
'Efforts to reach Fr~lin by telephone have been unsuccessful. Local law eriforcement officers have kept
reporters and photograpqers away from his secluded home in rural West Virginia, about a 90-minute
commute from Washington.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that $e FBI investigation has broadened to include interviews
with individuals at the State and Def~nse departments as well as MideaSt affairs specialists outside the
government. Israeli officials predi,cted ~hat the allega~ion
it got secret information on White HoUse policy
toward Iran f~om the Pentagon analyst would prove false.
Vincent Cannistraro, a retired CIA officer and former director ofWhite House intelligence progfams
~uring the Reagan administration, ~aid
Sunday, "It's another scandal for the Pentagon," with the potential
in this case ofgoing beY9nd the singl~
individual under investigation.
Larry Di Rita, Rumsfeld's chiefspokesman, said ~unday·that
the Penqtgon is sticking"by its initial
s~atement Friday.that it imderstands the investigation is limited in scope. He said it would be
lnapprC?pria.te for him or RUlQ.sfeld to comment further because it is an active investigation.
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