Presiding Judge T.S. Ellis ruled against most of the prosecution team’s efforts to limit Rosen and Weissman’s broad subpoena list of high US government officials in the prosecution of the former AIPAC officials.
The prosecuting attorneys wanted to block the 16 subpoena requests including the testimony of Secretary of State Rice and Stephen Hadley, President Bush’s national security adviser, allowing only four. Others that Rosen and Weissman may now subpoena include Elliott Abrams, former Iran Contra conspirator convicted on two counts of misleading Congress and Bush’s top adviser on Middle East policy, Richard Armitage, and Paul Wolfowitz.
While compelled testimony from the authors of the most disastrous foreign policy in the nation’s history may seem to be a welcome ray of light, it is unlikely to ever happen. The defense may be counting on this as a “graymail” strategy to get the case thrown out, thereby avoiding the embarrassment of current and former officials. Judge Ellis gave AIPAC reason hope it may work. It is likely that the subpoenaed witness will not appear on grounds of “executive privilege”. If Ellis reads the news, he knows that this has already occurred when Bush administration officials refused to appear before Congress to discuss the firing of US attorneys. If this happens again, the case against AIPAC will be over, as Judge T.S. Ellis plainly stated:
“The government’s refusal to comply with a subpoena in these circumstances may result in dismissal or lesser sanctions.”
There are multiple concurrent behind-the-scenes efforts that would likely result in getting this case thrown out. New legislation purporting to strengthen “protection of reporters” and the real possibility that government agencies won’t declassify enough of the wiretap and surveillance data documenting Weissman and Rosen’s alleged espionage activities are only two. The US attorney who originally brought the charges against Rosen and Weissman unwound the very guidelines that kept the prosecution moving, before he was jettisoned in the ensuing Attorney firing scandal.
An examination of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey’s record also indicates additional allies of AIPAC may enter the fray to help drop the case. While hard on convicted terrorists, Mukasey’s sentencing docket reveals a light touch for tie-bearing criminals. If confirmed, he would be very likely to order US Attorneys to drop the case entirely.
In “Foreign Agents” IRmep documents the sordid history of AIPAC, an organization that since its founding has routinely flouted important US laws including Foreign Agent registration, the Logan Act, election laws, and possibly the 1917 Espionage Act. It is now more likely that AIPAC will not face any criminal consequences for employing espionage as a tactic to influence US policy development on Iran. However, the generally underreported details of the trial should not escape the attention of citizens committed to cleaning up Washington.