FBI wants files on AIPAC case

Family refuses to turn over any document or archive to gov't agents.

By NATHAN GUTTMAN
weissman aipac 248 88 us (photo credit: US Government [file])
weissman aipac 248 88 us
(photo credit: US Government [file])
FBI investigators tried to gain access to documents of a late reporter in order to find material relating to the AIPAC case. FBI agents contacted the family of Jack Anderson, who died last December, and told them they are interested in looking through the archives of the late reporter which are now stored at the George Washington University. According to family members quoted in the US press, the agents said they are trying to find classified documents that might have been leaked to the reporter by the AIPAC employees who are under investigation. The family refused to turn over any document or to allow the government agents to look through Anderson's archives. His son, Kevin Anderson said that his father's view was "that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they are up to." Jack Anderson was known for his investigative reporting that revealed many of the secrets the FBI and the CIA tried to conceal from the American public. He exposed the plan to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro and revealed information regarding the Iran-Contra affair. It is not clear what kind of information the FBI was expecting to find in Anderson's archives, since he stopped working 15 years ago after becoming ill. An FBI spokesman said that there is a need to look through the papers in order to determine if any of them are classified, since it is illegal for any individual to posses these kinds of documents. The agency did not comment on the possible ties between Anderson and the pro-Israeli lobbyists. The two lobbyists, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, are awaiting their trial, scheduled to begin late May. They are accused of allegedly receiving classified information from a Pentagon analyst and communicating it to Israeli diplomats and members of the press. The FBI's attempt to search the files of the late Jack Anderson reveals the scope of the investigation against the lobbyists - who were fired from AIPAC shortly after the investigation became public. Rosen was followed by the FBI for over five years and officials in the pro-Israel lobby and the administration were questioned about the affair. Now it is revealed that the investigators were also trying to find documents that may have strengthened their claim that the former AIPAC lobbyists were active in leaking documents to journalists.