[JTA] Ron Kampeas - Two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are facing charges that they traded in secrets now have on their side the two most recent arbiters of what is and isn't a U.S. secret. William Leonard, who led the Information Security Oversight Office until last year, and his predecessor, Steven Garfinkel, were listed March 14 on the docket of the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as among eight expert defense witnesses in the case against Steve Rosen, AIPAC's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst. The Oversight Office, a branch of the National Archives, interprets the law and presidential directives to determine what should remain classified and what should be made available to the public. The agreement of Garfinkel and Leonard to serve as experts for the defense sets up the trial as a precedent-setting fight over the limits of secrecy. The trial is currently scheduled to begin April 29, but is likely to be postponed for a sixth time.
2008-03-20 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive