Who would have thought...

said Larry Noble, executive director of
the Center for Responsive Politics. "It
will present a problem in terms of peo-
ple having to deal with them."
What ensues depends on whether
those at the center of any emerging scan-
dal acted as rogues or were part of a pat-
tern, Noble said.
"AIPAC is a powerful lobbying group.
It does have a certain amount of capital,
but that can be used up quickly in a
really damaging situation," Noble said.
A former top Justice Department offi-
cial suggested that going to a grand jury
meant the investigation had become
adversarial. You can't automatically
sound the alarm, but more often than
not it means that they don't believe" that
those under investigation have been
"totally cooperative," said Bill Mateja, a
former U.S. Attorney in Texas who until
last month was the top federal corporate
fraud official.
Less often, Mateja said, a U.S. attor-
ney will refer a matter to a grand jury
simply to wrap it up, "crossing the t's
and dotting the i's.”

Probe Targets

Mateja said it was significant that
Weissman and Rosen were not among
those subpoenaed. Levenson said targets
of a probe almost never appear before a
grand jury in the early stages of the
investigation.
"Usually, the people who are brought
in at the initial stages are designated as
witnesses, rather than targets," she said.
When investigators first arrived at
AIPAC's offices in August, seizing corn-
puter files and interviewing Rosen and
Weissman, many suggested that AIPAC
was secondary to an investigation into
Larry Franklin, a Pentagon employee
suspected of passing the group classified
documents on Iran.
However, insiders say the investigation
has appeared to be moving away from
Franklin and toward Rosen and AIPAC.
Steve Pomerantz, a former FBI investi-
gator who consults for Jewish organiza-
tions, said the nature of the subpoenas
suggests that FBI investigators know
what they're looking for.
"The FBI is not suicidal," he said.
"They are not taking on AIPAC lightly
or without full knowledge that this is a
powerful organization seen positively by
this administration."

There has been unprecedented interest

in our Family Miracle Mission to Israel.

Even those on the list must fill out an

application. To get an application, call

(248)642-1644 or email lockman@jfmd.org .

Applications and deposits will be accepted

no earlier than December 15 and will be

processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Together...in Israel.

FEDERATION'S

FAMIL‘t
MIRACLE
MISSION

Co-sponsored by

December 25, 2005 — January 4, 2006
December 26, 2005 — January 5, 2006*

*THIS DATE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Chairs:

Lynda and Conrad Giles

Lisa and Hannan Lis

Beverly and Arthur Liss

N4lor BOARD d RABBIS

This is Federation

12/10

2004

Visit us online: www.thisisfederation.org

916040

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