FBI conducting more investigations into AIPAC

By NATHAN GUTTMAN
The FBI is conducting a second round of investigation concerning the Franklin-Aipac case and has interviewed in the past weeks several Jewish leaders and former Aipac officials. Individuals that have been interviewed by the FBI in the recent weeks have told the Jerusalem Post that they were surprised by the request for another interview after already speaking to investigators last year. The renewed cycle of interviews is intended, so it seems, to gather information of the lobbying practices of Aipac and other advocacy groups, in order to define what "common practice" in the lobbying field is. The defense for Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman will try to prove to the jury, when the trial begins on April 25, that the two defendants did nothing unusual and that their contacts with Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, in which classified information was passed, were a part of the normal lobbying work. The prosecution, on its behalf, is trying to establish what are the rules and practices for lobbying and then to prove that Rosen and Weissman's actions were not part of this common practice.