[UPI] Shaun Waterman - The government has been set a high bar for conviction in the AIPAC secrets case - prosecutors must show the two lobbyists charged under espionage laws knew that the disclosure of the material they allegedly passed to reporters and Israeli officials would hurt the U.S. "The Court imposed the requirement that the government prove that the defendant knew the information...would harm the United States," Judge Thomas Ellis told a Nov. 16 pre-trial hearing, though prosecutors had asked that this requirement be lifted. Jonathan Turley, professor of law at George Washington University, said the prosecution had "radically expanded the practical scope of national security law." He said it had always been understood that government employees who leaked were in criminal jeopardy, but not the reporters - or in this case lobbyists - to whom they were leaking. The case was originally expected to come to trial this year, but the date has been repeatedly deferred. Judge Ellis now says he will reserve time in May and June 2007 for a possible trial.
2006-12-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive