Shocker. Politico's Josh Gerstein reports that after former AIPAC lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman were indicted four years back under the Espionage Act (charges lately dropped), the Pentagon official who had informed on Rosen/Weissman, Larry Franklin, was approached by one of the targets of the investigation and asked to fake his own death so as to abort the case.
This is according to Justice Department filings aimed at reducing Franklin's sentence. Gerstein:
"Just prior to the entry of his guilty plea, Franklin was approached
by two individuals who made a pitch to Franklin about faking his death
by suicide and disappearing, thus thwarting any cooperation in the case
against Rosen and Weissman," prosecutors wrote in a brief filed in
connection with a motion to reduce the 12-year prison term Franklin was
originally sentenced to.
"In January 2006, Franklin conducted five consensually recorded
telephone conversations with one of these individuals, in support of an
obstruction of justice/witness tampering investigation; however, the
FBI was unable to obtain the requisite incriminating evidence to
support a criminal investigation," the Justice Department brief said.
This is funny weird, not funny ha-ha, and underscores my feeling that We don't know the half of it about the official political conspiracy involving the Israel lobby. Interesting that Franklin was approached by one of his own targets, which suggests that the individual was part of the Israel lobby; that the individual was not indicted; and yet the person's suggestion–fake your own death–has the sound of a threat. Who cares?
