 |
 |
 |
|
|
FBI Assistant Director Dave Szady reportedly heads the counter-intelligence investigation into the alleged mole.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By israelinsider staff August 28, 2004 |
|
| |
CBS News reported Friday evening that the FBI has a full-fledged espionage investigation underway and is about to "roll up" a "trusted analyst" whom federal agents believe has been spying for Israel from within the office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports that the FBI claims to have "solid" evidence that the suspected "mole" has supplied Israel with classified materials, including secret White House policy deliberations on Iran.
At the heart of the investigation, CBS reported, are the alleged spy's relationship with two men who work at The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
The government investigation, headed by FBI Assistant Director Dave Szady, has used wiretaps, undercover surveillance and photography. The photos reportedly show the passing of classified documents from the mole to the men at AIPAC, and then on to the Israelis.
CBS sources say that last year the suspected spy turned over a presidential directive on U.S. policy toward Iran while it was still being debated. This put the Israelis, one source said, "inside the decision-making loop" so they could "try to influence the outcome."
Investigators are also wondering, CBS News said, whether Israel also employed the analyst to attempt to influence U.S. policy regarding the war in Iraq?
The analyst reportedly had ties to top Pentagon officials Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, and had been assigned to a unit within the Defense Department that was responsible for helping formulate the Pentagon's Iraq policy.
CBS News reports that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been made aware of the case, and that the government has notified AIPAC that it wants information about the two employees and their links with the suspected Pentagon mole.
AIPAC told CBS News it is cooperating with the government and has hired an external legal counsel. A representative denied any wrongdoing by the lobby group or its employees.
AIPAC issued a statement saying "we would not condone or tolerate, for a second, any violation of U.S. law or interests. We are fully cooperating with the governmental authorities and will continue to do so."
An unnamed Israeli spokesman reportedly said, "We categorically deny these allegations. They are completely false and outrageous."
The suspected spy was not named by CBS, and did not not return the news network's phone calls.
In November 1985, U.S. Naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard was arrested at the gates of the Israeli embassy in Washington. He was later convicted of passing classified intelligence to Israel and other charges.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
