lily
11-02-2007, 08:58 PM
Well...she's already practiced her I don't recalls when she spoke in front of the House Foreign Relations Commitee on Oct. 24. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21599734/)
Rice to be subpoenaed in espionage case
Judge OKs calls for intel officials to discuss talks with pro-Israel
lobbyists
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and more than a dozen other
current and former intelligence officials must testify about their
conversations with pro-Israel lobbyists, a federal judge ruled Friday in an
espionage case.
Lawyers for two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists
facing charges have subpoenaed Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen
Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others
to testify at their trial next year. Prosecutors had challenged the
subpoenas in federal court.
Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman maintain the Israeli interest
group played an unofficial but sanctioned role in crafting foreign policy
and that Rice and others can confirm it.
If they ultimately testify in court, the trial in federal court in suburban
Alexandria, Va. could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign
policy is crafted.
Criminal or diplomatic?
The lobbyists are accused of receiving classified information from a
now-convicted Pentagon official and relaying it to an Israeli official and
the press. The information included details about the al-Qaida terror
network, U.S. policy in Iran and the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory
in Saudi Arabia, federal prosecutors said.
But defense attorneys argued that top U.S. officials regularly used the
lobbyists as a go-between as they crafted Middle East policy. If so,
attorneys say, how are Rosen and Weissman supposed to know the same behavior
that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said the lobbyists have a right to argue
that "they believed the meetings charged in the indictment were simply
further examples of the government's use of AIPAC as a diplomatic back
channel."
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell cheered the ruling.
"For over two years, we have been explaining that our clients' conduct was
lawful and completely consistent with how the U.S. government dealt with
AIPAC and other foreign policy groups," Lowell said on behalf of both
defendants. "We look forward to the trial."
Ellis left open the possibility that the Bush administration may challenge
the subpoenas on the grounds they would reveal privileged information. But
the judge said his ruling Friday "may trump a valid governmental privilege."
If so, that could force the government to decide whether to allow the
testimony or drop the case.
Neither the State Department nor the Justice Department had an immediate
comment.
Among those subpoenaed in the case were: former Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz; former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; and Marc
Grossman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Rice to be subpoenaed in espionage case
Judge OKs calls for intel officials to discuss talks with pro-Israel
lobbyists
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and more than a dozen other
current and former intelligence officials must testify about their
conversations with pro-Israel lobbyists, a federal judge ruled Friday in an
espionage case.
Lawyers for two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists
facing charges have subpoenaed Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen
Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others
to testify at their trial next year. Prosecutors had challenged the
subpoenas in federal court.
Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman maintain the Israeli interest
group played an unofficial but sanctioned role in crafting foreign policy
and that Rice and others can confirm it.
If they ultimately testify in court, the trial in federal court in suburban
Alexandria, Va. could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign
policy is crafted.
Criminal or diplomatic?
The lobbyists are accused of receiving classified information from a
now-convicted Pentagon official and relaying it to an Israeli official and
the press. The information included details about the al-Qaida terror
network, U.S. policy in Iran and the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory
in Saudi Arabia, federal prosecutors said.
But defense attorneys argued that top U.S. officials regularly used the
lobbyists as a go-between as they crafted Middle East policy. If so,
attorneys say, how are Rosen and Weissman supposed to know the same behavior
that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said the lobbyists have a right to argue
that "they believed the meetings charged in the indictment were simply
further examples of the government's use of AIPAC as a diplomatic back
channel."
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell cheered the ruling.
"For over two years, we have been explaining that our clients' conduct was
lawful and completely consistent with how the U.S. government dealt with
AIPAC and other foreign policy groups," Lowell said on behalf of both
defendants. "We look forward to the trial."
Ellis left open the possibility that the Bush administration may challenge
the subpoenas on the grounds they would reveal privileged information. But
the judge said his ruling Friday "may trump a valid governmental privilege."
If so, that could force the government to decide whether to allow the
testimony or drop the case.
Neither the State Department nor the Justice Department had an immediate
comment.
Among those subpoenaed in the case were: former Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz; former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; and Marc
Grossman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.