World
ANALYSi
Off The Hook
AIPAC decision a victory ... with qualifiers.
Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
B
aruch Weiss, the young lawyer
who helped cripple the govern-
ment's case against two former
AIPAC staffers, says the prosecution's loss
is a "great victory" for free speech and for
Israel's friends.
He's not wrong; but like any legal docu-
ment, the government's motion May 1 to
dismiss classified information charges
against Steve Rosen, the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee's former foreign
policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its for-
mer Iran analyst, begs for footnotes and
qualifiers.
The decision upholds as a matter of law
the right of lobbyists to relay information
to allies, such as Israel. The drawn-out
case, however, unquestionably wounded
the pro-Israel community's reputation as
unassailable. It also defers a looming crisis
for one of the fundamentals of reporting:
the right of a reporter or lobbyist or any-
one to listen to a source without running
to tell the feds.
Rosen and Weissman had been awaiting
trial ever since an FBI raid in August 2004
on AIPAC offices resulted in charges that
they had obtained and relayed informa-
tion relating to Iran's threat against Israel.
In the past three years, the government's
case suffered numerous setbacks in vari-
ous pre-trial court rulings.
In a statement May 1, Dana Boente, the
acting U.S. attorney for
the Eastern District of
Virginia, said, "Given the
diminished likelihood the
government will prevail
at trial under the addi-
tional intent requirements
imposed by the court and
the inevitable disclosure
of classified information
that would occur at any
trial in this matter, we have asked the
court to dismiss the indictment!'
Weiss, Weissman's attorney, said the
move by the government to drop the case
represented a "great victory for the First
Amendment and for the pro-Israel com-
munity"
But Boente made it clear that while
Rosen and Weissman are free, the govern-
ment likes the tool it unearthed in an
obscure section of the 1917 Espionage
Act — the ability to charge civilians with
dealing in classified information — and
it's going to keep it.
The 1917 statute criminalizes informa-
tion that "could be used to the injury of
the United States or to the advantage of
any foreign nation."
The problem for the government came
in a pre-trial ruling in August 2006, when
trial judge T.S. Ellis III interpreted that
line to mean that prosecutors had to show
that U.S. interests were harmed, and not
just that Rosen and Weissman relayed
secrets to a foreign power.
Relaying secrets to friends of the United
States, Ellis suggested, was not in and of
itself criminal. For a crime
to be committed, he said, the
accused must have sought
both benefit to another
nation as well as harm to the
United States.
Boente said that ruling
went too far.
"The district court poten-
tially imposed an additional
burden on the prosecution
not mandated by statute," he complained.
The core of the indictment against
Weissman and Rosen was that as part
of an FBI sting operation, they were told
— falsely, it turns out — that Iranian
agents were plotting to kill Israelis and
Americans in northern Iraq. They alleg-
edly relayed the information to Israeli
diplomats, media and colleagues.
"Relaying information to a friendly
power" describes the essence of what
AIPAC and a roster of other Jewish groups
do — and what any number of ethnic lob-
bies do.
With his 2006 ruling, Ellis enshrined
that as legal, so long as it doesn't harm the
United States.
That might prove a relief to the pro-
Israel community, but also raises ques-
tions for AIPAC about why it was so quick
to throw Rosen and Weissman to the pros-
ecutorial wolves.
AIPAC fired the two seven months after
the charges were announced, saying their
practices didn't comport with AIPAC stan-
dards without ever elaborating what they
were.
Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman
With the notable exceptions of Malcolm
Hoenlein, the executive vice-chairman
of the Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations, and
Abraham Foxman, national director of
the Anti-Defamation League, prominent
organizations and communal leaders took
years to weigh in — if they did at all.
How does such behavior square with
AIPAC's carefully cultivated reputation for
standing tall and tough?
Allowing Ellis' decision to stand also
upholds the part of the statute that
alarmed free-speech advocates when
Rosen and Weissman were first charged
in 2005: The idea that anyone who even
hears information that could harm the
United States is liable to face 10 years
behind bars if he or she doesn't immedi-
ately call the authorities.
Boente's statement May 1 suggested that
the government may rely on that statute in
the future when it comes to prosecutions.
In movie parlance, that leaves a hole big
enough for a sequel. ❑
WWII Vets To Be In Group Photo At Willow Run Airport
M
embers of Metro Detroit's
"Greatest Generation" — the
World War II veterans — will
be photographed, as a group, outside
the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run
Airport in Belleville.
All Michigan WW II veterans, whether
they served stateside or overseas,
should arrive at Willow Run Airport on
Wednesday, May 28, at 1:30 p.m., bringing
a 5- by 7-inch photograph of themselves
during the war. A meet-and-greet session
with refreshments will be offered, followed
by a group photograph to be taken on the
tarmac at 3 p.m. Casual dress is suggested,
but military personnel wishing to wear
period uniforms or a cap from individual
units are encouraged to do so.
The backdrop for the photograph will
be the fully restored Yankee Lady B-17G
bomber, one of several vintage WW II air-
craft owned by the Yankee Air Museum.
Each participant will receive his or her
own copy of the group photograph.
Willow Run Airport was built by Ford
Motor Company in 1941 to serve as an
airfield for the B-24 Bomber plant. The B-
24 was the first aircraft built using Ford's
automotive mass production techniques,
a leading technological innovation of the
time. At its peak, the Willow Run plant
employed 42,000 people and produced one
B-24 every 59 minutes.
This opportunity to gather again the
participants of World War II, the most
significant conflict of the 20th century, is
destined to become a historical moment
in its own right.
Filming will take place during this
event for Visionalist Entertainment
Production's latest documentary, Detroit:
Our Greatest Generation. Friends and rela-
tives are encouraged to accompany their
loved one to ensure that future genera-
tions remember the sacrifices made by
Detroit's greatest, says the documentary's
executive producer, Keith Famie.
The Yankee Air Museum is located
in Belleville. Visit the Web site at www.
yankeeairmuseum.org for directions and
information.
❑
May 7 G 2009
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