Judge Calls Speech Rights Central to Espionage Case
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Federal prosecutors, trumpeting the indictment last year of two pro-Israel lobbyists who allegedly obtained U.S. defense secrets from a former Pentagon analyst, said the men had crossed a "clear line in the law."
But that line is turning out to be not so clear, and the government's high-profile case might be unraveling. A federal judge is considering throwing out or reducing the charges before the ex-lobbyists' trial begins this month.
Last week, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, a conservative appointed by President Reagan, appeared to be receptive to concerns expressed by media groups, lobbyists and proponents of open government that the case posed a new intrusion on 1st Amendment rights.
Critics have said that by targeting recipients of unauthorized disclosures -- in this case lobbyists who learned information in conversations with a Pentagon official -- the Bush administration seeks to impose punishment for constitutionally protected speech.
The indictments represent the leading edge of an administration effort to crack down on leaks it views as damaging, including the disclosure of the National Security Agency antiterrorism program that spied on international communications in the U.S. without warrants.
Administration officials said that if they did not have the power to aggressively prosecute such leaks, their ability to protect national security would be greatly damaged.
For an administration that has repeatedly pushed the legal envelope in areas such as the detention and treatment of enemy combatants, a ruling that dismisses the government's case would be an embarrassing rebuke.
The defendants, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, were charged with conspiring with then-Pentagon analyst Lawrence A. Franklin to gather and communicate defense information concerning Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Franklin, who as a government employee had sworn an oath not to reveal classified information to anyone without a security clearance, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January to more than 12 years in prison.
The former lobbyists have been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act, which makes it a crime for anyone to possess or communicate defense information.
The statute is controversial because it is broadly worded. It has withstood court challenges over the years, mostly cases involving classic spy schemes and the misdeeds of U.S. officials leaking secrets to foreign powers.
