November 3, 2007
Defense May Seek U.S. Testimony in Secrets Case
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 -- A federal judge on Friday ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, to be ready to testify as defense witnesses at the trial of two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of receiving secret national security information.
The judge, T. S. Ellis III of Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., agreed with defense lawyers that Ms. Rice, Mr. Hadley and several other government officials could be subpoenaed because they might help the defendants demonstrate that they were engaged in traditional "back channel" lobbying -- not in espionage -- in their contacts with the government over Middle East policy.
Justice Department officials who are overseeing the prosecution had no immediate comment on the judge's ruling or on whether they might appeal the decision. The State Department also declined to comment. The trial in the case is scheduled to begin in January, although a delay is considered likely.
The defendants, Stephen J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, have pleaded not guilty, and their prosecution under the 90-year-old Espionage Act has caused alarm among other lobbyists, policy groups and reporters who trade in information about national security issues.
A defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell, welcomed the judge's ruling on behalf of both defendants.
"Our clients' conduct was lawful and completely consistent with how the U.S. government dealt with Aipac and other foreign policy groups," Mr. Lowell said. "We are gratified that the judge has agreed that the defense has the right to prove these points by calling the secretary of state and all of these other government officials as our witnesses."
Judge Ellis noted that many issues in the case were classified, and he did not indicate what questions might be asked of Ms. Rice and the other current and former officials who face subpoenas, including Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, and Paul D. Wolfowitz, a former deputy defense secretary.
The ruling noted that the former lobbyists had asserted that "Aipac played an important role in U.S. foreign policy" and that "U.S. government officials routinely conveyed sensitive, nonpublic information to them and others within Aipac with the expectation that Aipac employees would further disclose the information to their co-workers, foreign government officials, members of the media and any other individual who could use it to advance U.S. foreign policy development."