Pentagon analyst indicted on charges of divulging classified information
AFP
Date: 06-13-05
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Pentagon analyst has been indicted on charges of passing classified information and documents about a Middle Eastern country to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group and a diplomat from an unnamed country, court documents show.
Lawrence Franklin, who worked on the Pentagon's Iran desk, was charged on four counts of communicating national defense information to persons not entitled or authorized to receive it, and two counts of conspiracy.
The indictment details a series of contacts in 2003 and 2004 in which Franklin allegedly divulged classified information about an unnamed Middle Eastern country to two employees of a Washington lobbying firm and a foreign diplomat.
It gives no names other than Franklin's but officials had previously identified the lobbying firm as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The indictment did not say what country the diplomat was from. Israel denied any involvement in the case after Franklin's arrest in May.
Franklin conspired and "did deliver, communicate and transmit classified national defense information in an effort to advance his own career, advance his own personal foreign policy agenda, and influence persons within and outside the United States government," the indictment read.
It said Franklin had "reason to believe that such information could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation."
At a June 26, 2003 meeting, he allegedly passed "classified information obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communication of a foreign government," according to the indictment.
But it was unclear from the indictment how damaging the leaks were.
Franklin, 58, appeared to have done little to hide his activities.
He faxed classified documents from his office, called his contacts on his office phone, and met in plain view at the Pentagon with the foreign official who received some of the classified information.
His meetings with AIPAC officials have been widely reported. The indictment alleges he provided them with a classified internal policy paper that he had written, discussed with them top secret information related to potential attacks on US forces in Iraq, and classified information related to the intelligence reporting activities of a foreign nation.
The court documents provide new details about his contacts with a diplomat at an unidentified foreign embassy in Washington between August 15, 2002 and June, 2004.
After an initial meeting at a Washington restaurant on August 15, 2002, Franklin and the diplomat exchanged phone calls at their offices for several months and then met again in person near the embassy on or about January 30, 2003, the indictment said.
"The subject of the discussion at this meeting was a Middle Eastern country's nuclear program," it said.
They met on May 2, 2003 at the Pentagon's Officer's Athletic Club adjacent to the Pentagon, where they discussed foreign policy issues and senior US officials, it said.
On May 23, 2003, they again met at the Pentagon's Officer's Athletic Club.
"At this meeting, the two discussed issues concerning a Middle Eastern country and its nuclear program and the views held by Europe and certain United States government agencies with regard to that issue," the indictment said.
Franklin later drafted an "action memo" to his superiors incorporating suggestions made by the foreign official, it said.
There followed a series of meetings between the two at the Pentagon Officer's Athletic Club and at a sandwich shop near the State Department.
During a meeting February 13, 2004, the foreign official suggested a meeting with someone who had previously been associated with his country's intelligence services. He also gave Franklin a gift card, the indictment said.
Franklin met with the man with intelligence connections a week later in the Pentagon cafeteria "and discussed a Middle Eastern country's nuclear program."
On June 8, 2004, Franklin met with the foreign official at a Washington coffee house.
"At this meeting, the defendant provided the FO (foreign official) with classified information he had learned from a classified United States government document related to a Middle Eastern country's activities in Iraq. The defendant was not authorized to disclose this classified information to the FO," the indictment said.
The indictment also alleges that sometime between December 2003 and June 2004, Franklin disclosed to the foreign officer classified information related to a weapon test conducted by a Middle Eastern country.
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