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jobs at AIPAC, according to multiple sources familiar with th~-investigation.
Franklin has already been charged, and a looming court battle will probably
turn on whether he and others were illegally passing government secrets or
were merely conduits of the type of policy-related information that is
frequently bandied about in official Washington. The meeting at the mall is
Ilot mentioned in the publicly filed charges, and new details are emerging
about a series of fBI-monitored meetings between Franklin and the former
AIPAC officials dating back to early 2003. But many questions remain
unanswered, such as whether the information Franklin allegedly passed along
at those sessions was classified, and if it was, whether Rosen and Weissman
knew it was classified, and whether any damage was done to U.S. national
security.
Rosen and Weissman have been notified that prosecutors are preparing to
charge them with disclosing classified information, sources familiar with the
investigation said. Federal prosecutors and the FBI would not comment, nor
would John Nassikas, an attorney for Weissman. An attorney for Rosen,
Abbe D. Lowell, said that "when all the facts come out, the government will
have more to explain about its conduct than Steve Rosen will about his."
Earlier, he said that Rosen "never solicited, received or passed on any
classified documents" from Franklin. A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy
did not return phone calls. A Post spokesman confirmed that the report~r,
Glenn Kessler, recently declined a Justice Degartme~~requestto be
interviewed. Kessler would not comment yesterday.
Franklin's attorney, Plato Cacheris, confirmed that Franklin briefly cooperated
with investigators in the summer of 2004, during the time of the meeting at the
mall. Cacheris said'that Franklin, whom he described as a "loyal and patriotic
American citizen," is no longer cooperating and plans to go to trial. Last
month, Franklin was charged in a criminal complaint in U.S. District Cou·rt in
Alexandria with disclosing classified information related to potential attacks
on U.S. forces in Iraq. Court documents did not reveal who received the
information, but federal law enforcement sources have said that Franklin
disclosed it to Rosen and Weissman at an Arlington restaurant in June 2003.
The sources also said the attacks would have been carri~d out by Iran. At the
time, the U.S. government was concerned about Iranian activities in Iraq after
the U.S.-led invasion that year. Federal prosecutors in Alexandria have
notified Franklin that he would be indicted bya grand jury, and Franklin has
been told to appear in federal court June 13. Sources familiar with the case
said the court appearance relates to a sealed indictment. Franklin was also
charged again last week in federal court in West Virginia with possessing 83
classified documents dating back three decades. They were found at his
West Virginia home.
6/3/2005