Pentagon analyst, lobbyists plead not guilty

From Terry Frieden
CNN Washington Bureau

• Lobbyists charged in probe

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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and a Pentagon analyst pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday on charges of unauthorized communication of national defense information and conspiracy involving such information.

The former AIPAC officials, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, and Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia.

Rosen, Weissman and Franklin will remain free until trial on personal recognizance bonds of $100,000 each. As part of the arrangement they also are required to surrender travel documents and they cannot leave the Washington metropolitan area without permission from the court. Rosen and Weissman were fired by AIPAC in April.

A criminal complaint returned this month alleged Franklin, who once worked on the Iran desk at the Pentagon, disclosed classified information to officials from AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group. Court documents also alleged Franklin conspired to communicate classified information to the representative of a foreign government, whom sources have identified as Israel.

There was no discussion of the substance of the charges at Tuesday's arraignment. A trial date was set for January 3. A hearing on various pretrial motions will be October 20.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the FBI is continuing its probe of the alleged disclosure.

AIPAC previously said it had "dismissed Rosen and Weissman because they engaged in conduct that was not part of their jobs, and because this conduct did not comport in any way with the standards that AIPAC expects of its employees."

Rosen's attorney, Abbe Lowell, earlier this month called the charges "entirely unjustified."

CNN's Carol Cratty contributed to this report.

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