October 06, 2005
The Offer Lawrence Franklin Couldn't Refuse
On September 29, 2005, Reuters reported that The federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, said in a statement that the analyst, Lawrence Franklin, was scheduled to plead guilty to "a charge or charges" on Wednesday but did not have details.
A source familiar with the case said the court's announcement was premature and there was not yet any deal on a guilty plea. The source said negotiations were continuing.Well, now there is a deal. Lawrence Anthony Franklin, age 58, of Kearneysville, West Virginia pleaded guilty October 5, 2005, according to Paul McNulty, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Mr. Franklin admitted that he passed U.S. government secrets to Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and to "Naor Gilon, a former Israeli political officer with whom he met with at least eight times.According to The Washington Post, Mr.
Gilon "was the political officer at the Israeli Embassy [in Washington] before being recalled last summer.
As might be expected, the fact that Israel is once again implicated in spying on the U.S. produced interesting headlines in the world, Israeli and Jewish press in the U.S. For example, the Debkafile said More Israelis May Fall under Cloud of Franklin Sting Operation
Haaretz's headline said Israel: We Didn't 'Run' U.S. Aide Who Passed Classified Data Arutz Shiva's article on the guilty plea was headlined Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee Chair: Franklin's Admission of Guilt doesn't Impact Israel
The Jerusalem Post told its readers Steinitz: Israel is Not Spying on the US." Mr. Franklin is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2006. Three months is a long time in the world of espionage. Much can happen between now and then.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:42 AM
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