Rice, Hadley subpoenas resisted in AIPAC case

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior intelligence officials should not be forced to testify about whether they discussed classified information with pro-Israel lobbyists, federal prosecutors argued in a closed-door court hearing yesterday.

Two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists facing espionage charges have subpoenaed Miss Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others to testify at their trial next year.

If their testimony is allowed by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, the trial could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign policy is crafted.

Although Judge Ellis closed yesterday's hearing to the public, the government's opposition to the subpoenas was outlined on a court calendar entry.

Documents filed by attorneys for lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman argue that the Israeli interest group played an unofficial but sanctioned role in crafting foreign policy and that Rice and others can confirm it.

"In other words, they'll tell us that back-channel disclosures are an everyday common practice?" Judge Ellis asked in a hearing last year during a rare public discussion of the issue.

That argument is a key to the defense.

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 Qaeda terrorist network, U.S. police in Iran and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia, federal prosecutors said.

But defense attorneys suggested 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 Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman supposed to know the same behavior that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?

Federal prosecutors have said little in public about why Miss Rice and others should not have to testify. Miss Rice, who previously served as President Bush's national security adviser, "never gave national defense information to Mr. Rosen, doesn't even remember him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin DiGregory said.

The list of Bush administration figures subpoenaed in the case include former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; Iraq adviser David Satterfield; William Burns, U.S. ambassador to Russia; and retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni. The list also includes Kenneth Pollack, who served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.

Judge Ellis closed the courtroom yesterday because it involved classified information. Court security officers barred a reporter from the hallway near the courtroom.

The judge was not expected to rule yesterday and, when he does, his reasoning may not be made public. Trial is set for Jan. 14.