Pentagon analyst held as suspect in data leaks
By David Johnston and Eric Lichtblau The New York Times
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005
WASHINGTON Federal agents have arrested a Pentagon analyst, accusing him of illegally disclosing highly classified information about possible attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
The analyst, Lawrence Franklin, turned himself in to the authorities on Wednesday morning in a case that has stirred unusually anxious debate in influential political circles in the capital, even though it has focused on a midlevel Pentagon employee.
The inquiry has cast a cloud over the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which employed the two men who are said to have received the classified information from Franklin. The group, also known as AIPAC, has close ties to senior policymakers in the Bush administration, among them Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to appear later this month at the group's annual meeting.
The investigation has proved awkward as well for a group of conservative Republicans who held high-level civilian jobs at the Pentagon during President George W. Bush's first term and the buildup toward the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who were also close to the lobbying group.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/05/news/spy.php
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