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THE FRANKLIN CASE AND THE FIVE
"Don't forget to tip!”
BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD
—Special for Granma International—
THE most dangerous spy in recent U.S. history,
Lawrence "Larry" Franklin, 59, is currently working
as a parking attendant at an exclusive Casino and
Racetrack in West Virginia while waiting to testify
in the trial of his two accomplices.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal
publication Franklin, an expert Pentagon analyst who
personally advised Donald Rumsfeld, is working as a
"valet" in the parking lot at the Charles Town Races
& Slots, located in Charles Town, West Virginia
between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Charles Town Races & Slots is a private racetrack
and casino specializing in video lottery, where 3,
800 slot machines—according to its advertisements—
attract a wealthy clientele from the U.S. federal
capital area.
While the Cuban Five, who were arrested by the Miami
FBI, accused of espionage for infiltrating that
city’s terrorist groups and given sentences
including life imprisonment, wait in prison for a
court decision, Franklin, a real spy, is collecting
tips from gambling clients.
This situation is so absurd that a Washington
Post reporter used this title in a brief
commentary on the subject: "Don't Forget to Tip!”
Franklin has already enjoyed an incredible sentence
reduction despite his treason. After negotiations
between the spy’s lawyers and the Attorney General,
Federal Judge T.S. Ellis III, of the Alexandria
district of Virginia, gave him a 12-year sentence…
and then freed him on bail pending the trial of two
Israeli agents, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, with
whom he actively collaborated.
Franklin handed over an enormous volume of
information from the Pentagon on Iran, to those two
individuals and another Israeli spy, Naor Gilon,
then political advisor at the Israeli embassy in
Washington, an action evidently behind Israel’s
escalating threats of war on Iran.
But the news of Franklin’s well-paying job in the
parking lot of Charles Town Races did not appear on
its own.
"THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A SUCCESSFUL CASE…"
It is accompanied by the rhetoric of Rosen and
Weissman’s astute lawyers, who are claiming that by
accusing their client of espionage, the Attorney
General violated the First Amendment of the
Constitution and that to sentence them would oblige
the state to also bring charges against a large
number of activists and journalists.
The legislation banning the unauthorized
distribution of classified material has never been
applied to simple citizens, stated the learned John
Nassikas III, spokesman of the defense team, to the
New York daily, The Sun.
"There has never been a successful case regarding
the unauthorized circulation of material by
individuals not under legal or contractual
obligation to keep the information classified," said
Nassikas.
Rosen and Weissman were lobbyists for the American
Israel Political Committee (AIPAC), the most
important Israeli lobby group in Washington.
Their espionage activities took place between April
1999 and August 27, 2004, during which time the FBI
observed numerous meetings held with the precautions
that characterized the group’s activities.
Franklin’s two accomplices are to appear before the
Alexandria Federal Court on April 25.
The charges against them are that they received
classified information from Franklin and distributed
this information to "members of the press and
foreign government agents."
The prosecution has not given a public description
of the information that they allegedly distributed
nor have they named the reporters or foreign agents
implicated, according to The Sun.
A document summarizing the defense of the two
accused was co-authored by Viet Dinh, a professor at
the Georgetown University Faculty of Law, who also
used to hold an important position in the Justice
Department. Dinh, a constitutional expert, is famous
for being one of the “architects” of the Patriot
Act.
Dinh’s argument has caused controversy. "Does the
First Amendment grant the right to steal and
distribute vital U.S. secrets to a foreign power?"
writes Justin Raimundo of
Antiwar.com. The journalist ends his piece by
asking if there is a double standard regarding
espionage. "What would happen if Rosen and Weissman
were named Abdullah and Mohammed? Or if they worked
for the Muslim American Political Action Committee
(MAPAC)?"
"ONE HAS TO BE VERY CAUTIOUS"
According to The Sun, the lawyers’ text also
cites an eminent federal attorney, Patrick
Fitzgerald, "regarding the risks in bringing charges
related to the diffusion of classified information."
"One must be very cautious about applying this law
because numerous interests can be implicated", said
the expert during a press conference last year, upon
explaining why this charge was not brought against
I. Lewis Libby, the White House staffer who revealed
the identity of a CIA agent.
The defense document was published by Secrecy News
and circulated around the internet by the Federation
of American Scientists.
Nassikas announced that Weissman is proposing to
launch a defense fund to cover his court costs.
It is worth remembering how, in violation of all
prison regulations and international conventions
against torture and cruel, inhumane, and degrading
treatment, Héctor Pesquera, chief of the Miami FBI,
and his accomplices in the Federal Attorney’s
Office, kept the Cuban Five in solitary confinement
for 17 consecutive months after their arrest. Since
their rigged trial, René González, Gerardo
Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and
Fernando González have been held in five separate
prisons scattered across the immense U.S. territory,
with only extremely limited contact with their
families.
Franklin is out on bail until the end of court
proceedings that could drag on for years. It is
unknown how the outcome of that trial will affect
the subsequent review of his sentence.
In the mean time he will continue collecting money
in the Charles Town parking lot.
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