New ruling in AIPAC case raises questions about ‘foreign agents’
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (JTA) — A new pretrial ruling in the classified-information case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists raises new questions about what defines a “foreign agent” and whether the government has the right to spy on lobbyists. Ruling on whether a wiretap order was legal, Judge T.S. Ellis III said there was “ample probable cause to believe” that two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were “agents of a foreign power.” The ruling was handed down last week and declassified Tuesday.
Ellis also said that “collection or transmission of material that is not generally available to the public” qualifies as an activity that could merit wiretapping under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.
Ellis, a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., ruled on a motion to suppress the FISA-obtained evidence, filed by lawyers for Steve Rosen, AIPAC’s former foreign policy director, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst.
The defense contended that, as lobbyists, Rosen and Weissman do not qualify as the type of major threats to U.S. security that the system was designed to rout out.
The ruling could have far-reaching implications for how AIPAC functions as a lobby and how lobbyists, journalists, academics and other non-governmental researchers gather information.
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New ruling in AIPAC case raises
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