F.B.I. Is Said to Brief Pentagon Bosses on Spy Case; Charges Are Possible
By DAVID JOHNSTON and ERIC SCHMITT
August 31, 2004
F.B.I. agents met in recent days with two high-level Pentagon officials to discuss the case of a Defense Department analyst who is suspected of turning over a classified policy document to Israel, a senior official in the department said on Monday.
The two officials, Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, and Douglas J. Feith, the under secretary for policy, were briefed on the case of the analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin, who was a lower-level employee in Mr. Feith's office who specialized in Iranian issues.
The official said that meetings with Mr. Wolfowitz and Mr. Feith were briefings rather than interviews. It remained somewhat unclear whether either man was asked any questions during the meetings about his knowledge of Mr. Franklin's activities.
Mr. Feith met with agents at his home on Sunday, the official said. It was not clear exactly when and where the agents met with Mr. Wolfowitz. The meetings were first reported on Monday by the Associated Press.
Pentagon officials said in a statement on Friday that no one at the Defense Department beyond Mr. Franklin was suspected of any wrongdoing. Neither Mr. Wolfowitz nor Mr. Feith is regarded as having any involvement in the matter other than as potential witnesses because of their familiarity with Mr. Franklin's work.
So far, no charges in the case have been brought, but behind the scenes government lawyers prepared to make the first arrests by issuing a criminal complaint against one or more figures in the case, government officials said on Monday.
A complaint is a relatively quick method of charging someone with a crime. The use of that approach suggested that the government has decided to move quickly to resolve the legal questions in the yearlong national security case rather than wait for indictments after a grand jury investigation.
Mr. Franklin's legal status is unclear. The authorities believe that Mr. Franklin gave a draft policy directive on Iran to officials from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, who then provided the information to Israeli intelligence.
Aipac and Israel have denied that they engaged in any wrongdoing. Efforts to contact Mr. Franklin have been unsuccessful, but friends and associates have said he was a highly ethical government employee with little access to senior policy makers who would never have violated the law.
Mr. Franklin has been cooperating with the federal authorities and is thought to be negotiating a deal with the government that could result in leniency in the form of reduced charges in exchange for his information about other people in the case. It is not clear when or even whether he will be charged in the case.
The case has been assigned to the federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., in an office that has long experience in prosecuting espionage cases. The office is headed by Paul McNulty, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A spokesman for Mr. McNulty would not comment on the matter.
Along with Mr. Franklin, two unidentified officials of Aipac suspected of passing information to the Israelis are also under investigation. Their legal status could depend on what information Mr. Franklin has supplied about their activities along with evidence already obtained by physical and electronic surveillance.
Some Justice Department lawyers are said to have expressed reservations about the proposal to make quick decisions about bringing charges, fearing that such a move would force the government to show its hand, disclosing evidence in a case in which investigators have already been forced to move more quickly than they had hoped because news organizations became aware of the inquiry.
Some officials suspect that the case will never reach the level of an espionage matter. Investigators do not fully understand the motivations of two Aipac officials who they believe were in contact with Mr. Franklin. Moreover, investigators have given up their hope of determining whether Israel regarded Mr. Franklin as an asset in a formal intelligence collection operation or as informal source.
Mr. Franklin worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency for most of his government career until he transferred to the Pentagon policy office in the summer of 2001 to deal with Iranian issues. In his current job, he is one of two Iran desk officers who work in the policy office's Northern Gulf directorate. Mr. Franklin is one of about 1,500 employees who work under Mr. Feith in the policy office.
Mr. Franklin is also a colonel in the Air Force Reserve who spent at least one of his annual tours on active duty working in the defense attaché's office in the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv in the late 1990's, defense officials said.