From:
AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit
Sex, spies, and videotape
(AntiWar.com) -- by Grant Smith --
On Nov. 8, 2010, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) filed a massive 260-page motion [.pdf] in the District of Columbia Superior Court. It asks Judge Erik Christian to dismiss former AIPAC employee Steven J. Rosen’s $20 million defamation suit. In October the court dismissed all counts of the March 2009 lawsuit except for Rosen’s claim of harm over AIPAC statements to the press that he did not uphold its standards of conduct. Rosen and AIPAC have – until now – abstained from filing damaging information about the internal workings of AIPAC in court. AIPAC’s willingness to publicly air some extremely sordid and revealing content to get the remaining count thrown out before an alternative dispute resolution hearing begins in December is a sign that AIPAC is now fighting for its life, or – as one former AIPAC attorney put it – “reason for being.” If Rosen proves in court that AIPAC has long handled classified information while lobbying for Israel, the worn public pretense that AIPAC is anything but a stealth extension of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs – from which it emerged in 1951 – will end forever.
Rosen filed his civil suit after adverse judicial rulings made his (and coworker Keith Weissman’s) prosecution under the Espionage Act unlikely. Col. Lawrence Franklin pled guilty to passing classified national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it while Rosen and Weissman were indicted in 2005 for their role in the espionage affair. Although prosecutors reluctantly dropped [.pdf] their indictment in May 2009 – as AIPAC carefully notes in its filing – Rosen was never acquitted. Outstanding questions in the defamation suit about classified-information trafficking have now placed AIPAC in a bind. If AIPAC financially settles with Rosen, it will signal to the American people and attentive law enforcement officials that it is honoring a previous compensation deal to pay Rosen off after the spy flap subsided. On May 11, 2010, Rosen revealed an e-mail to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein asserting that AIPAC promised “when this is over we will do right by Steve.” But it’s now far from clear whether AIPAC has the financial wherewithal or donors willing to honor such a – possibly illegal – commitment.
AIPAC’s massive filing is mostly derived from transcribed videotaped depositions taken during a lengthy discovery process. AIPAC’s confrontational lead counsel, Thomas L. McCally, forced Rosen to admit that after AIPAC fired him, he tapped some of its biggest donors for cash. Through conduits, bundlers, and payments carefully structured below the gift tax limits, Daniel Abraham, Haim Saban, Newton Becker, Larry Hochberg, Fred Schwartz, Walter Stern, and other angels ponied up almost $1 million to Rosen between the moment AIPAC fired him and the day he joined the Middle East Forum as a visiting fellow. Rosen’s solicitations may have permanently broken such donor ties to AIPAC. Between 2007 and 2008 AIPAC’s revenue plunged 14 percent from $71 million to $61 million during a period the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported record donations to internationally oriented nonprofits. In 2008, AIPAC had to tap some of its $50 million in reserves to cover a $2.8 million budget shortfall.
AIPAC is firing its best shot now because it needs to get the case thrown out before Rosen can unleash a return salvo of “about 180” internal AIPAC documents showing that it routinely gathered “inside” (Rosen’s preferred euphemism for classified) information from U.S. government officials. Rosen can now immediately file his own sliced and diced depositions and even some of his stash of documents to prove his contention that AIPAC slandered him by claiming he was unique and thereby keep the case moving forward...MORE...LINK
FOR LIBERTARIAN NATIONALISM: ANTI-CORPORATIST, ANTI-COMMUNIST, ANTI-GLOBALIST...PRO-SOVEREIGNTY, PRO-POPULIST, PRO-FREE ENTERPRISE
My Other Blog & Comments
News and Information Feed
-
-
-
DeSantis, Donald Trump Discuss Détente In Miami53 minutes ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Follow the Money1 hour ago
-
-
The complicated truth about being stalked1 hour ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What An Incredible Hike!2 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A lesson in privilege3 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sunday, April 28, 20246 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Arthur Topham RIP - ZOG Opponent8 hours ago
-
-
-
The Scramble For Antarctica8 hours ago
-
-
-
-
The Collapse of The Enlightenment10 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
News Briefs – 04/28/202413 hours ago
-
-
All About Ed15 hours ago
-
-
Washington Moves On to Plan B16 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Dying to Your Flesh – Session 220 hours ago
-
Afghans Gone Wild20 hours ago
-
Ashes of Apathy in El Salvador20 hours ago
-
-
-
Moral Anarchy: An Understatement20 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Colleges revolts against Israel1 day ago
-
-
-
Month of the Leader, part 31 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Kim Iversen Show2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I Called It Five Years Ago!2 days ago
-
A Derb Tribute Show2 days ago
-
-
-
The dumbest decision.3 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Democracy For Dummies4 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Now Argentina Wants To Join NATO1 week ago
-
-
-
-
Tulsi Gabbard Left The Woke War Party2 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
Help Whatfinger Grow…4 weeks ago
-
-
-
Navigating Taxation Policy5 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
So sorry about tomorrow3 months ago
-
-
-
TFeed Index 20233 months ago
-
-
-
-
Headline 3: Of Christmas And Paganism5 months ago
-
Imagine Being This Desperate5 months ago
-
-
Hardcore7 months ago
-
Media Say ... Gloom And Doom In China7 months ago
-
-
U.S. Openly Militarizes Space8 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Conversations With Cabbies10 months ago
-
-
-
-
Hegemon USA’s War on Truth-Telling11 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Tips1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Man, Bear, Pig Event Coming1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What a Wonderful Stocking Stuffer!2 years ago
-
test2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
#273 – Marc Randolph2 years ago
-
My Farewell Announcement2 years ago
-
My Farewell Announcement2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Farewell, for now3 years ago
-
-
Audio Book Lost Colony of Hatteras3 years ago
-
-
Cancel Yourself3 years ago
-
-
Hello world!3 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Non-Jewish Origins of Krav Maga3 years ago
-
-
-
Why the Marines are dumping their tanks4 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Voxiversity Live Stream6 years ago
-
-
Home: A Recap6 years ago
-
Big Brother’s War on Cash6 years ago
-
-
-
-
By: Osamas Pajamas9 years ago
-
Join Our Mailing List12 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Monday, November 15, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment