Ripples from the Franklin trial

As I have noted here on several occasions, the conviction of Larry Franklin is an important event that may erode the intimate (and as the Franklin case shows, illegal) access of pro-Israel lobbyists to U.S. policymakers. Here we hear just such concerns voiced by some of the leading figures on the scene.
Haaretz - Israel News: "Two days after former Pentagon analyst Larry A. Franklin was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in jail for sharing classified information with pro-Israel lobbyists, several American Jewish community leaders echoed a single refrain: There's reason to worry, but no need to feel like this is a crisis.

Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman said the Franklin affair could potentially pose a threat to all Jewish lobbyists.

Foxman said it is not clear what exactly is allowed in terms of the relationships between the administration and the media and between nongovernmental organizations and foreign governments. The lack of clarity, he said, could have a destructive influence on the activities of all U.S. Jewish groups."

Haaretz reports that AIPAC officials (since fired) briefed Israeli officials on secrets passed by Larry Franklin (charged with passing secrets)

Print: "WASHINGTON - The United States appears to be investigating conversations that two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee staff members allegedly had with an Israel Embassy official and a Washington Post reporter regarding security information they received from a Pentagon analyst, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Wednesday.

The analyst, Larry Franklin, was arrested earlier this month on charges of leaking classified information.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations is believed to have co-opted Franklin in 2003, according to the JTA. A year later, he met in Virginia with Keith Weissman, a former senior Iran analyst for the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, and - in what is believed to have been a sting operation - allegedly told him that the Iranians would try to kidnap and murder Israelis and Americans in the Kurdish region of Iraq, the agency quoted multiple sources as saying.
"

Larry Franklin and AIPAC--plea bargain time

Print: "Franklin will testify against former AIPAC officials Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, both of whom deny charges against them. Rosen and Weissman are suspected of passing on the information they received from Franklin to a number of Israeli Embassy employees and journalists. "

CQ: FISA wiretap reveals Congresswoman (D) Jane Harman offered to lobby Justice Dept to go light on accused AIPAC spies

Volunteer agents who subordinate U.S. security and foreign policy interests to those of Israel are not uncommon in Washington. One such agent was convicted spy Larry Franklin who had a longtime reputation among Pentagon insiders as guy who would "empty his desk" into the satchels of visiting pro-Israel lobbyists. In 2006, Franklin was sentenced to twelve years in prison for playing Santa with classified documents.

Harman was not engaged in espionage, but she was offering to [help] lower the price of espionage intended to help Israel. In her oath of office, Harman pledged to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution of the United States. As the wiretap apparently reveals, she may have failed to uphold her oath

These charges first surfaced in 2006, but they were stifled by then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Now that it is known that Harman's malfeasance was captured on tape, it is clear that Gonzales blocked the investigation to avoid undermining a key Democratic ally. Harman worked hard to rationalize and protect the Bush administration broad domestic spying activities.

Update:

TPM raises the question that is on all our minds, namely why did the FISA wiretap get leaked now? I agree with the hunch that the Obama administration may be playing hardball with Israel's new Prime Minister Netanyahu, and with rightwing pro-Israeli lobbyists.

Reverberations of Larry Franklin's Guilty Plea

Haaretz - Israel News - Between friendly countries: "The other side of the Franklin affair relates to the Israeli Embassy and senior Israeli diplomat Naor Gillon. Ever since the Jonathan Pollard espionage case, Israel has shied away from anything liable even to recall this sorry affair. Israel, as a country whose representatives in Washington have regular contact with many administration officials, has no reason to act as if it were a guilty party in this new affair.

The FBI is an American investigatory agency, not an Israeli one, and if it wishes to obtain information about employees of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, or about former Mossad agents, it must submit an official request to Israel, rather than contact the people in question directly. There are several rules that friendly countries do not allow themselves to break when it comes, for instance, to a friendly country's former intelligence agents."

AIPAC Conference Video

Two AIPAC employees, both quickly fired, await trial for receiving classified documents from convicted DIA analyst Larry Franklin. If the intent of this prosecution was to fire a shot across the bow of AIPAC, it will be interesting to see whether members of Congress allude to these improper and illegal actions, or choose to mitigate them.
AIPAC Policy Conference 2006 Conference Video

More on the AIPAC-Larry Franklin Espionage Case

The New Yorker: Fact: "Aipac officials insist that the case has not affected the organization's effectiveness. But its operations have certainly been hindered by the controversy of the past year, and the F.B.I. sting may force lobbyists of all sorts to be more careful about trying to penetrate the executive branch and about leaking to reporters. And aipac now seems acutely sensitive to the appearance of dual loyalty. The theme of this years aipac conference was Israel, an American Value, and, for the first time, Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, was not sung. The only anthem heard was The Star-Spangled Banner. "

Harold Rhode (see Larry Franklin)

The New Republic Online: Campaign Journal
The big question is which Pentagon officials will also be implicated in the AIPAC espionage case? There is little doubt that this is a very big story being kept under wraps thanks to the sensitive politics of accusing Israel of still spying on America, even after the Pollard case assurances from Israel's government.
Social network diagram for Harold Rhode.
This piece by the UPI's Richard Sale, a veteran intel reporter in D.C. provides an historical overview of the involvement of Rhode's former boss, Douglas Feith and others in U.S. policymaking. Feith was allegedly fired by Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor for passing documents to Israel.

Feith was apparently fired because he'd been the object of an inquiry into whether he'd provided classified material to an official of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. The FBI had opened the inquiry. And Clark, who had served in U.S. Army counterintelligence in the 1950's, took such matters very seriously.....more seriously, apparently, than had Richard Allen [clark's predecssor as NSC advisor].

As the case of Larry Franklin spying for AIPAC still unfolds, AIPAC leaders Stress American Side of Aipac

The Forward Newspaper Online: Leaders Stress American Side of Aipac

The speech was described by one veteran Jewish community activist as "throwing Steve [Rosen] overboard and sailing ahead on an ocean of American patriotism."

In light of Larry Franklin's arrest for passing documents to pro-Israel lobbyists this story bears re-reading

"Iran-Contra II?" by Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris