US considers halting Israel lobbyist case

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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washi ... yist_case/

US considers halting Israel lobbyist case

By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press  |  April 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is considering dropping its case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of illegally disclosing national defense secrets, government officials said yesterday.

Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman were charged in 2005 with conspiring to obtain classified documents and sharing them with reporters and former diplomats. Like other cases centered around espionage and classified information, a critical issue in pretrial hearings has been how much of the government's case must be aired in open court.

Trial has been postponed at least nine times as the defense and prosecutors wrangled over the handling of classified information and other issues. The defendants won an appeals court victory on that front in February when a three-judge panel ruled that some classified evidence could be presented at trial.

Two government officials said yesterday the Justice Department has been weighing whether to go forward with the case. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of internal discussions. Some involved in the case are urging officials to let it continue to trial, the officials said.

Rosen's attorney, Abbe Lowell, declined to comment.

Lawyers for the defendants have argued that their clients did not disclose classified or national defense information but the kind of information that is commonly swapped by Washington insiders.

The charges against Rosen and Weissman fall under the 1917 Espionage Act, a rarely used World War I-era law that never before had been applied to lobbyists. Rosen and Weissman, who worked for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, are not charged with espionage. The maximum penalty is 10 years per count - Rosen is charged with two counts and Weissman with one.

While the case has proceeded at a snail's pace in court, it gained renewed attention Monday after Congressional Quarterly reported that Representative Jane Harman, Democrat of California, was overheard agreeing to seek lenient treatment for Rosen and Weissman. Congressional Quarterly attributed the information to anonymous current and former national security officials familiar with a transcript of the call recorded by the National Security Agency.

In a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder, Harman adamantly denied she had contacted the Justice Department, White House, or anyone else seeking favorable treatment for Rosen and Weissman.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said officials were reviewing Harman's letter.