(New York Times) Eric Lichtblau - Defense Department analyst Lawrence A. Franklin admitted Wednesday that he shared secret military information with two pro-Israeli lobbyists and an Israeli official in an effort to create a "backchannel" to the Bush administration on Middle East policy regarding Iran. Franklin said in entering his guilty pleas that he had shared with the lobbyists "my frustrations with a particular policy." He said he hoped the lobbyists could help influence policy by passing on information that he knew was classified. "I asked them to use their contacts to get this information backchannels to people at the N.S.C. (National Security Council)," he said. Franklin also admitted meeting with an official of the Israeli Embassy and passing on classified information regarding weapons tests in the Middle East, military activities in Iraq, and other issues. Franklin said he assumed that such "tidbits" were already known to Israel, and he said that the Israeli official "gave me far more information than I gave him."
2005-10-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive