FBI Seeks 2 NYT Reporters In AIPAC Case

[RPankn]

FBI seeks interview with Times reporters in pro-Israel lobbying, spying probe

RAW STORY
Published: February 1, 2006

Two journalists for The New York Times are being sought for questioning by the FBI regarding stories they wrote about a pro-Israel lobbying group receiving classified information from a former Pentagon official, according to a story slated for Thursday's Times, RAW STORY has learned.

The bureau's actions are part of the "second round of investigation" regarding classified information passed from Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin to Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Franklin worked out of the Office of Special Plans reporting to Douglas Feith.

Excerpted from the forthcoming article written by David Johnston:

The FBI is seeking to interview two New York Times reporters about their conversations with a former Pentagon official and representatives of a pro-Israeli lobbying group who have been the focus of federal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.


rawstory.com/news/2005/FBI_seeks_interview_with_Times_reporters_0201.html

[RPankn]

2 Times Reporters Queried in Federal Investigation

By DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: February 2, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — Federal agents contacted two reporters from The New York Times on Wednesday seeking information about a former Pentagon official and two representatives of a pro-Israel lobbying group who have been at the center of a criminal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

The requests were made to David S. Cloud and Steven R. Weisman, reporters in The Times's Washington bureau. Mr. Cloud was asked about possible contacts he had in the spring of 2003 with representatives of the lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. At the time, Mr. Cloud was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

Michael Kortan, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, would not comment on the phone calls on grounds that the requests for information were part of a continuing inquiry.

A government official who has been briefed on the matter said that agents had contacted reporters from several news organizations. [Deja vu.]

The agents, the official said, are trying to determine whether reporters received national security information intended to influence their reporting on the Middle East. [Does their M.O. ever change?]

The Times reporters were regarded as witnesses, the official said, rather than subjects or targets of the investigation.

The official added that the inquiry was being conducted in compliance with Justice Department guidelines that require legal approval before journalists are contacted.

The requests follow the Jan. 23 sentencing of Lawrence A. Franklin, a former Pentagon analyst and expert on Iran. Mr. Franklin's sentencing, to a term of more than 12 years after a guilty plea, refocused the case on two former Aipac officials, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, who are scheduled to go on trial in April. Each has pleaded not guilty.


www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/national/02franklin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Moses]

Steven Weissman is most definitely an Israeli operative, propagandizing on behalf of Israel, as is his wife, Susan Bumiller. That two married, pro-Israeli reporters were assigned to cover a) the state department b) the White House, is very telling in terms of the Times and its management. David Sanger is another one, of course. It would appear that the media assign propagandists-- wealthy elite dynastic ones, to the State dept. Weissman is definitely culpable.