Two ex-lobbyists for a key pro-Israel group indicted in spy probe

WASHINGTON — Two former employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group were charged yesterday with conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. defense information.

A five-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., named Steven Rosen, formerly the director of foreign-policy issues for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Keith Weissman, the group's former senior Iran analyst.

The charges follow the indictment in June of Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, accused of leaking classified military information to an Israeli official and the AIPAC employees.

The FBI investigation that led to yesterday's charges has been closely followed in Washington, where AIPAC is an influential interest group. The case also has served as a reminder of a tense time in U.S.-Israeli relations: the 1985 scandal in which civilian Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard was caught spying for Israel.

The government is not accusing Franklin, Rosen or Weissman of espionage, although the FBI has questioned at least one Israeli official.

Israeli Embassy spokesman David Siegel said his country's diplomats have done nothing wrong.

Rosen, a top AIPAC lobbyist for 23 years, and Weissman disclosed sensitive information as far back as 1999 on a variety of topics, including al-Qaida, terrorist activities in Central Asia, the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia and U.S. policy in Iran, the indictment said. Among their contacts were U.S. and foreign government officials and reporters, the indictment said. AIPAC fired Rosen and Weissman earlier this year.

One unanswered question is how the men might have obtained classified material before they met Franklin, who specialized in Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs, in 2003. While the indictment suggests at least two other U.S. officials also were sources of classified information, no other charges are planned, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said at a news conference in Alexandria.

McNulty said the men apparently were motivated by a desire to advance their personal agendas and careers by trading on prized information. "The facts alleged today tell a story of individuals who put their own interests and their own views of foreign policy ahead of American national security," McNulty said.

Rosen, 63, of Silver Spring, Md.; Weissman, 53, of Bethesda, Md.; and Franklin, 58, of Kearneysville, W.Va., are scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 16 in Alexandria.

"The charges in the indictment announced today are entirely unjustified," said Abbe Lowell, Rosen's attorney. John Nassikas, Weissman's lawyer, said, "We are disappointed that the government has decided to pursue these charges, which Mr. Weissman strongly denies."

Franklin previously pleaded not guilty, but the new indictment dropped one charge and he will be rearraigned on the others. Prosecutors did not explain why they dropped the charge of communicating classified information to someone not authorized to receive it.