How Did They Find Mr. Kadish?

Since Hillary apparently needs a reminder that Israel has nukes–some of the technology for which they stole from us–yesterday’s charging of Ben-Ami Kadish for spying
ought to provide her a useful reminder.

An 84-year-old former Army engineer in New Jersey was charged on Tuesday with leaking dozens of secret documents about nuclear arms, missiles and fighter jets to the Israeli government during the early 1980s, federal prosecutors said.

While I’d be interested in Israel’s nukes attracting more attention in discussions of Middle East policy, at the moment I’m more curious how the government suddenly discovered Kadish’s alleged spying … more than 20 years after the events in question?

The NYT admits it doesn’t know the answer to that question.

Federal officials said authorities became aware of what they called Mr. Kadish’s spying activities only in recent months but would not say how they learned of his efforts more than 20 years later.

Mr. Kadish admitted to an F.B.I. agent last month that he had shown 50 to 100 classified documents to the Israeli official, according to prosecutors’ court filings on Tuesday.

It also reminds readers that Israel had assured us that they had revealed all of the spying Yosef Yagur–the science attache who appears to have solicited Kadish’s spying and who also was the Israeli agent handling Jonathan Pollard–had engaged in.

Though Mr. Kadish is suspected of having operated at the same time as Mr. Pollard, and not afterward, another conviction would be embarrassing for Israel because its officials were supposed to have disclosed to the United States all relevant information about Israeli intelligence gathering at the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest.

So how did the US uncover Kadish’s spying?

One possibility is that Larry Franklin disclosed Kadish’s spying to the government. While the AIPAC trial is increasingly likely to be dismissed rather than have Condi reveal her A1 Cut-Out methods under oath, Larry Franklin’s plea deal did require his ongoing cooperation with the government–so presumably, if he knew of other Israeli spying, he revealed it to them. But Kadish was charged in relation to a grand jury investigation out of SDNY, not EDVA (Kadish committed the alleged acts in New Jersey).

Another possibility is that the government traced back technological information they knew had ended up someplace it shouldn’t have back to the Israelis, and with it, to Kadish. The criminal complaint describes three documents above all that Kadish shared with the Israelis.

  1. One containing information relating to a nuclear weapons system
  2. One describing a modification of an F-15 sold to another country
  3. On concerning the Patriot missile system

It also noted that Kadish had signed out these documents in question. In other words, it’s possible that the government worked backwards from a country that had integrated certain F-15 modifications and Patriot missile technology into their own nuclear program to learn how they had acquired that technology–which led them through Israel to Kadish. One possibility is that this information ended up with Pakistan and this is an investigation that arose in relation to active investigations into the AQ Khan network (back in the BCCI days, the Israelis dealth US nuclear technology to the Pakistanis; though by 1988, the Pakistanis had modified their F-16s to carry nukes). It’s also possible Saudi Arabia is involved, since elsewhere the complaint describes Kadish saying the F-15 document "had a direct correlation to Israel’s security."

But the bit I find most telling are the charges only tangentially related to espionage: obstruction and false statements. As the complaint describes,

On or about March 20, 2008, after law enforcement officials … interviewed BEN-AMI KADISH, … KADISH received a telephone call from … CC-1 [almost certainly Yosef Yagur, Kadish’s handler], and CC-1 instructed KADISH to lie to the Law Enforcement Officials.

On or about March 21, 2008, the Law Enforcement Officials interviewed KADISH again in connection with the Grand Jury Investigation, and during this interview, KADISH stated that he (KADISH) did not speak with CC-1 after the First Interview.

In other words, Yagur (who is not in the US) apparently learned that the FBI had interviewed Kadish about the espionage (it is unclear whether the FBI first interviewed Kadish on March 20, or earlier than that). Yagur called Kadish and told him to lie. And the very next day, the FBI re-interviewed Kadish to ask about that call from Yagur, which Kadish denied.

Yagur knew–and knows–they’re closing in on him, over twenty years after he fled the country. And the FBI presumably had tapped Kadish or Yagur.

Back when Yagur handled Jonathan Pollard, he escaped charges (and escaped the country). For some reason, the government seems to have renewed interest in Yagur.

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98 replies
  1. wigwam says:

    At least as interesting as the question of “how” is the question of “why”. For what reason would those involved be interested in embarrassing the Israelis at this time? FWIW, I think that Mukasey came from SDNY, and presumably this would not be proceeding without his okay.

  2. klynn says:

    I imagine you read Juan Cole…

    http://www.juancole.com/

    The damage that Israeli spying has done to US security is immense, not only because of such leaks but also because of Israeli reverse engineering of US technology and the pirating of it. Further, the nuclearization of the Middle East that the Israelis initiated has the potential to drag us all into Armageddon.

    He then links to this 2005 post:

    http://www.juancole.com/2005/0…..ckled.html

    Specifically for this article:

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/576453/posts

    Pollard himself, now forty-seven, has never denied that he turned over a great deal of classified material to the Israelis, but he maintains that his sole motive was to protect Israeli security. “From the start of this affair, I never intended or agreed to spy against the United States,” he told United States District Court Judge Aubrey Robinson,Jr., in a memorandum submitted before his sentencing, in 1986. His goal, he said, was “to provide such information on the Arab powers and the Soviets that would permit the Israelis to avoid a repetition of the Yom Kippur War,” in 1973, when an attack by Egypt and Syria took Israel by surprise. “At no time did I ever compromise the names of any U.S. agents operating overseas, nor did I ever reveal any U.S. ciphers, codes, encipherment devices, classified military technology, the disposition and orders of U.S. forces . . . or communications security procedures,” Pollard added. “I never thought for a second that Israel’s gain would necessarily result in America’s loss. How could it?”

    I would like this investigation nailed down before the election. Evidence will guide how we should vote…

    • Anna says:

      If the Aipac espionage case is dismissed it will continue to be business as usual. The American public has barely heard of this investigation or upcoming trial. Both the MSM and the majority of progressive bloggers have been complacent when it comes to covering this investigation. With the exception of Juan Cole, Justin Raimando, and a few others.

      If this critical trial is dismissed the American public will barely notice. Just the way the I-lobby likes it.

      • bmaz says:

        Unfortunately, I pretty much agree with EW that is exactly where it is headed though, they are just playing out the string to get there.

      • emptywheel says:

        I disagree.

        The AIPAC case relies on a radical reinterpretation of the espionage statute. The Feds may have reason to believe that this case warrants it–they may have abundant evidence of a spy network, but can’t get to it without Rosen and Weissman. Thing is, there still is a rule of law in this country, and if judges see fit to severely constrain the govt’s radical interpretation of espionage, that’s probably a good decision.

        Likewise, if the judge belieevs calling Condi is a legitimate defense (and given the way we know this administration regularly leaks classified information, I’m sure it is), then the AIPAC defendants have a right to call her, and the govt can make its decision if admitting that Condi is a serial leaker is too costly.

        I strongly beleive the FBI thinks they have evidence of a wider network. But they’re so far out on a limb prosecutorally, they probably need to find another way to move forward.

        • bmaz says:

          Well, now i wholeheartedly agree with that. And that is exactly why I have conflicted thoughts on a gray Rice dismissal; the thing ought to be bounced on the merits you describe, not out of a Rice-a-Phony defense.

        • Anna says:

          Not sure if you “disagree” with the “business as usual” comment or that the “American public will barely notice” if this trial is dismissed.

          EW while I do not question your integrity I do question this comment. “Thing is there still is a rule of law in this country”. Really?

          where? We have watched the Bush administration get away with murder, the destruction of the constitution, Libby pardon, wiretapping, dismissal of Federal Judges etc etc. The American public knows that generally there is a justice system for the peasants and a justice system for the insiders and well connected. Although Abramoff, Conrad Black, Cunningham are good examples of some insider justice taking place.

          Do you think it is more “radical” to access classify documents and give them to a foreign nation. Or more “radical” to reinterpret espionage laws? And who has said that this is a “radical” reinterpretation of those espionage laws? Rosen and Weismmans attorneys?

          Do Judges always play by the rules?

          ag

  3. earlofhuntingdon says:

    One possibility is that this “recent discovery” is coordinated with Rice’s frail, doomed attempts at some Middle East mini-treaty, showing that we’re tough on Israel? If so, it could only be for domestic consumption. It won’t fool anyone in the Middle East whose support we would need to obtain.

    Conversely, it could also be as a screen to help explain the failure of Rice’s mini-diplomacy. Too late, too inconsistent and too ill-resourced to be taken seriously by others, it will pass out from its own light headedness. But Condi does need a reason to pretend it was a serious attempt; hence, she needs an external reason to explain its failure.

    The prosecution, if it proceeds, will annoy the AIPAC crowd, who, like Yoo, thinks that some laws ought not to apply because their version of a cause is just, no matter the harm to others. Why irritate part of the Base, especially those voting in Florida, that St. John is flip flopping so hard to court?

    One ought to ask these questions because under Mukasey, the DOJ remains the GOP’s poodle, not a credible neutral law enforcement agency.

    • scribe says:

      b/c he’s a go-to easy-quote “Eminent Source” for any journo writing anything on espionage.

      • brendanx says:

        He prosecuted the Pollard case. What I was really asking was whether he’s “Boris” of “Boris and Natasha”.

    • emptywheel says:

      Are you asking seriously?

      He’s a Republican hack lawyer who, as USA under Reagan, prosecuted Pollard. With his wife Victoria Toensing, he’s also an integral part of the right wing noise machine.

      • brendanx says:

        I ask because it suprised me that this traitor was in charge of the Pollard case, and it make me automatically assume, wrongly or not, that he was responsible for limiting the damage the Pollard case did to the Israelis. As he says, a lot of them got away:

        “It’s a fascinating case of another agent in place, another sleeper, with the very same handler,” said Joseph E. diGenova, the former U.S. attorney in the District who prosecuted Pollard. “We always suspected there were other people. His tradecraft was apparently better than Pollard’s.”

  4. scribe says:

    I’d suspect the SDNY would have become involved in one of at least three ways (there are likely more reasons, also equally plausible):
    1. The SDNY has (outside DC/EDVA) probably the best white-collar/counter-espionage crew of attorneys and agents. Could have been CI, could have been an offshoot of some stock-market sort of thing run through NY.
    2. The UN (which is located within the SDNY’s bailiwick, if out of its jurisdiction) may have been the situs/home base for someone who was the initial thread into the investigation. In other words, Joe Sixpack-o’-Chardonnay from country X’s mission to the UN walks into the FBI (or they go out to meet him – take your pick) and tells them about this alleged espionage, either where it was the thrust of the investigation or, if not, in response to the FBI guy asking “do you know about any other criminality we should be interested in?”
    3. The EDVA had to be recused for one reason or another, so they sent it to SDNY because venue was arguably proper there, too.

    • emptywheel says:

      Oh, here’s what the complaint says:

      KADISH and CC-1 have kept in touch since CC-1’s departure from the United States in 1985. KADISH and CC-1 have primarily maintained contact by telephone and e-mail. According to KADISH, all of their contacts after 1985 have been for purely social reasons.

      • emptywheel says:

        Oh, and this:

        On numerous occasions from in or about 1985 through on or about March 20, 2008, KADISH engaged in telephone and email conversations with CC-1, and in 2004, KADISH traveled to Israel and met with CC-1.

      • brendanx says:

        It’s funny how neither the Post nor the Times link to the actual complaint. I guess that stuff is just too abstruse for their gentle readers.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        According to KADISH, all of their contacts after 1985 have been for purely social reasons.

        And Karl Rove left the White House to spend more time with his family.

  5. behindthefall says:

    I have to ask … is there some way that this could help derail a hypothetical Israeli/U.S. attack on Iran?

    • brendanx says:

      The handler and Kadish renewed their ties on March 20, according to the FBI affidavit, after federal agents interviewed Kadish for the first time. “Don’t say anything,” the handler allegedly said. “Let them say whatever they want. . . . What happened 25 years ago? You didn’t remember anything.”

  6. earlofhuntingdon says:

    I agree that Kadish may be eminently prosecutable. But why now? Foreign relations explanations I’ve considered don’t pass the smell test. Those opposed to Israel already assume the US has given it newkuler technology or that she’s stolen or reverse-engineered it. Whatever Kadish gave them twenty years ago the Israelis has been improved considerably.

    What domestic positioning would this prosecution help today ? An easy win for the Deciderer? Juries won’t jump to punish an 84-year old man; if he did it, he’d be wiser to plea bargain, but after twenty years, what has he left to sell? Or is that the point? It hasn’t been twenty years and there are current moles yet to find? Is this an oblique message to them to lie low, to stop. Or an oblique message to would be whistleblowers on this administration, reminding them that the GOP elephant never forgets, never forgives and always enacts retribution.

    With this DOJ, I can’t see how any high-profile prosecution, it handles so few, about a twenty year-old crime is not politically motivated.

    • emptywheel says:

      I’m wondering if something happened in 2004–what the timing was. Consider this:

      The active investigation of Franklin started in July 2003. In May 2004, after the FBI caught Franklin leaking sensitive information to CBS reporter (and disgruntled former CIA employee) Adam Ciralsky, they flipped Franklin, and got him to wear a wire. News of the case was leaked in August 2004, serving to alert a bunch of people to the FBI’s investigation (there are conflicting versions of who leaked the news of the investigation).

      In other words, Kadish happened to go to Israel in the same year that the Franklin stuff was almost certainly intentionally leaked. Did Israel try to clean up some of its old network?

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        An intentional leak suggesting that the Shrubster was telling his foreign gardener to clean up his debris and disappear before the garden party guests arrived?

    • Anna says:

      Yeah time to sacrifice the 84 year old Kadish and let the rest of the traitors go. Real Justice here!

  7. radiofreewill says:

    EW – What I find most interesting is that Yagur ‘knew’ that Kadish had been questioned by the FBI on Mar. 20th about the Spying Activities.

    I see you are suggesting that the initial questioning of Kadish could have been earlier than Mar. 20th, in which case, Kadish may have had time to ‘get word’ to Yagur.

    If so, that would seem to indicate that Kadish was the Target – possibly recently discovered, as you suggest, as a ’source’ through reverse-engineering Observed Rogue Nuclear Mods back through Espionage of Documents – which would make it Kadish’s driftnet that attracted Yagur.

    However, the timing of Yagur’s call on the 21st and Kadish’s denial of Yagur’s wire-tapped instructions to lie, makes it seem more likely that Yagur is the Target whose driftnet picked-up Kadish, just as Yagur was trying to ’smother’ the Document Sourcing that matched the Intel coming in from the field.

    If so, then this article is a weathervane telling All of Yagur’s Downstream Contacts that Yagur has been ‘compromised,’ and so has The Person that Tipped Yagur Off to Kadish’s questioning on the 20th.

    If Yagur is the Target, then this article would let Yagur’s Mole in DoJ/FBI/SDNY know he’s already been harpooned for the Mar. 20th tip-off…

      • brendanx says:

        I don’t get this question. The meeting on Mar. 20 was because Kadish was questioned. What would the problem have been for him to contact Yagur?

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Presumably because Yagur and his government admitted that he was/is a spy handler.

          It also reminds readers that Israel had assured us that they had revealed all of the spying Yosef Yagur–the science attache who appears to have solicited Kadish’s spying and who also was the Israeli agent handling Jonathan Pollard–had engaged in.

          Every government has them, some for use against domestic political opponents as well as foreign governments. But it’s not nice for a “former” spy to contact his “former” handler. Former diplomat-spy John le Carre has written whole books about such encounters. They never end up well for the spy or his home country.

      • brendanx says:

        What I meant was, why would it have been hard for Kadish to get word to Yagur, and why wouldn’t that be what you’d expect? My question is why would Yagur call him without expecting to be listened to?

  8. Bushie says:

    I have a hard time explaining how Israel has ever been our friend or why we support their government the way we do (except AIPAC money of course). From the attack on the US Liberty in 1967, killing 34 sailors, to deep espionage, Israel hasn’t been there for the US. Least I forget, how is it the Mossad, one of the best intelligence outfits in the world, and certainly the best in their own back yard, didn’t know Iraq had no WMD, is beyond me. Well duh! We support Israel why?

    • wigwam says:

      I have a hard time explaining how Israel has ever been our friend or why we support their government the way we do (except AIPAC money of course).

      Walt and Mearsheimer have a lot of say about that in their book about The Israel Lobby.

      Least I forget, how is it the Mossad, one of the best intelligence outfits in the world, and certainly the best in their own back yard, didn’t know Iraq had no WMD, is beyond me. Well duh! We support Israel why?

      Per Col. Karen Kwaitowski, Israel was stove-piping disinformation directly to the White House via Doug Feith’s Office of Special Projects within the DoD: http://www.amconmag.com/2004_01_19/article1.html

  9. selise says:

    anyone here listening to the hjc hearing? davis just asked mueller to say that rendition is a violation of us and international law – and then i lost the hjc webfeed, and can’t re-connect.

    damn.

    • MarieRoget says:

      Yeah, my feed cut out, too. Been fiddling w/Real Player but it’s no go, plus I’ve procrastinated long enough & have to drive in to work. Hopefully the reply will be up @ TPM or elsewhere later.

      • selise says:

        the hjc has a web feed?

        yes. if you click on my name you will see this week’s list of hearings (at least the ones that had been scheduled when i put the list together on monday) with links for each hearing.

        i tried ripping the audio for this one (sometimes i’ll post mp3s as podcasts for hearings that c-span doesn’t cover), but missed a big chunk in the middle when the feed dropped. however, in a couple of days, the archived webfeed should be posted (again at the link on my list). so we can all listen later, and if there’s a really good bit, i can make a youtube (if the video quality is not too bad).

  10. SparklestheIguana says:

    Breaking:

    U.S. attorney reportedly targeted by heavyweights

    April 23, 2008; 9:54 a.m.
    More bombshells were lobbed in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial even before the jury was seated this morning and they involved a purported attempt to pull strings with the White House to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald.

    “[Ata] had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed,” Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/……htmlstory

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Good find on the Tribune article.

      It’s also useful in that it sheds light on the indirect ways in which Rove could have masterminded the campaign against former Alabama governor Don Siegelman without talking directly with the DOJ or the White House, but achieving the same effects as if he had.

      “Parsing” may soon give way to “Roving”.

    • scribe says:

      Yeee-ow! The whole Purge US Attorneys thing could turn out to be a pay-to-play thing – Rove might have done it for anyone who could pay the freight.

      Like, maybe, Joementum and his bogus “Liberals Crashed my Website” thingy?

    • FrankProbst says:

      Breaking:

      U.S. attorney reportedly targeted by heavyweights

      April 23, 2008; 9:54 a.m.
      More bombshells were lobbed in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial even before the jury was seated this morning and they involved a purported attempt to pull strings with the White House to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald.

      “[Ata] had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed,” Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

      http://www.chicagotribune.com/…..;htmlstory

      I’m assuming Marcy will be posting on this at some point. Unfortunately, Karl has his hands full at the moment, as Dan Abrams isn’t falling for the usual Karl tricks.

      • solai says:

        I miss the days when Rove was in jeopardy of being indicted thus too distracted to do much else. Everytime I see him on teevee I want to scream. The man should be in jail, not spinning his lies for a tv audience. Let’s hope this lands him in more hot water.

  11. radiofreewill says:

    brendanx at 29 –

    It’s Yagur who calls Kadish on the 21st. From EW’s Post above:

    “On or about March 20, 2008, after law enforcement officials … interviewed BEN-AMI KADISH, … KADISH received a telephone call from … CC-1 [almost certainly Yosef Yagur, Kadish’s handler], and CC-1 instructed KADISH to lie to the Law Enforcement Officials.

    On or about March 21, 2008, the Law Enforcement Officials interviewed KADISH again in connection with the Grand Jury Investigation, and during this interview, KADISH stated that he (KADISH) did not speak with CC-1 after the First Interview.”

    The question is important, in one sense, because Yagur is instructing Kadish on what to do regarding Espionage Charges of Spying Against the United States – charges which would clearly demonstrate Bad Faith by Israel in honoring their Pollard Conviction Promise of “Full Confession.”

    Kadish = Israel Lied = Yagur as ‘Fixer’

    In another sense, Yagur appears to have a ‘Mole’ inside the Grand Jury process – just look at the timing of his call to Kadish in the quote.

    I’m going to take a semi-wild-assed-guess that Yagur has a Mole in the SDNY Office – someone directly involved with the Investigation and Prosecution of Kadish – someone familiar with Secret Grand Jury Testimony.

    • brendanx says:

      Why not:

      1. Kadish is interviewed March 20.
      2. He gets word to Yagur somehow March 20 after the interview (”on numerous occasions from in or about 1985 through on or about March 20, 2008 Kadish engaged in telephone and e-mail conversations…”).
      3. Yagur calls Kadish later on March 20 telling him to lie.
      4. FBI interviews Kadish again March 21 where Kadish lies about phone call.

      They don’t seem real cloak-and-dagger about communicating.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        A well-trained spy handler would assume his use of public telecommunications facilities into or in the United States with one of his former spies would be monitored, certainly this long after 9/11. Which suggests the public calls are only part of what they communicated and why they needed to.

      • radiofreewill says:

        You’re right, of course. We need more information to really understand the dynamic at work here, but this does have, imvho, a ‘tip of the iceberg’ feel to it.

        What if – I’m going hypothetical here – a Huge Israeli Spy-Ring were Uncovered around 2004 – massively manipulating US National Policy?

        And, before getting ‘exposed,’ the Israeli’s Extorted Bush with the NSA Wiretapping Story through the New York Times – which they ‘threatened’ to go public with for about a year, or so – and fucking ended up ’sitting’ on the Story Through Bush’s Re-Election. Hmmmm…

        Can you say Hypothetical Quid Pro Quo? How about Mutually Assured Dirtiness?

        Our Immoral Spy Ring versus Your Immoral Spy Ring – A Bargain between Thieves, so to speak, to rob US All.

        It’s a hypothetical, but not beyond the realm of possibilities…

  12. emptywheel says:

    You know, wrt whether they intend to convict him–both the bail ($300,000) and the fact that the criminal acts alleged to have taken place in NY (the false statements/obstruction), suggest they’re more interested in him for those purposes.

  13. pat1213 says:

    Is Ben Ami Kadish related to Lawrence Kadish Hudson scholar, big republican supporter and finacier for west bank settlements?

  14. ruthhmiller says:

    Ok, I hope I’m not just smoking funny stuff but I looked up the career of James Jesus Angleton (don’t ask) and concluded that he was deeply involved in setting up Mosad and part of the reason was it turned out his close Brit pal was a mole and he felt he couldn’t trust his own people and he could get the Israelis to do his dirty work. Angelton was the “mother of the CIA”

    • bobschacht says:

      I looked up the career of James Jesus Angleton (don’t ask) and concluded that he was deeply involved in setting up Mosad and part of the reason was it turned out his close Brit pal was a mole and he felt he couldn’t trust his own people and he could get the Israelis to do his dirty work. Angelton was the “mother of the CIA”

      Boy, what a house of mirrors that is. Wander around there for a while and you lose all sense of bearings about what is real and what isn’t, who you can trust (nobody) and who you can’t (everyone). I get vertigo just thinking about it.

      Bob in HI

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Precisely, to coin a phrase. Angleton’s pal would be Kim Philby, one of the four known Cambridge Spies and the most successful but for its leader, Anthony Blunt. A cousin of the queen, Blunt was outed (in more ways than one) but kept under wraps for twenty-five years, during which he curated the queen’s paintings instead of her intelligence secrets. There’s a famous phrase these four used to bandy about, about they’re hoping that if they had to choose between queen and country and their friends, they’d choose their friends. Substitute GOP for “friends”, and you have the Bush administration.

  15. cbl2 says:

    in my poorly caffeinated state found myself musing about this somehow finding it’s way back to Brewster-Jennings

  16. bmaz says:

    Sounds to me like the “CC”s might be more aptly described as “CI”s, i.e. confidential informants, that co-conspirators at the recent relative times laid out in the complaint. This is an awfully bizarre takedown….

  17. klynn says:

    RFW writes:

    If Yagur is the Target, then this article would let Yagur’s Mole in DoJ/FBI/SDNY know he’s already been harpooned for the Mar. 20th tip-off…

    brendanx,

    It’s this thinking behind my question…RFW states it nicely.

    • klynn says:

      Although, I think the mole could be “higher up” than DoJ/FBI/SDNY…I would open the agency possibilities a bit more due to the AIPAC investigation.

  18. whitewidow says:

    All this time there has apparently been no interest in finding the high level mole. Why is this happening now? Is it possible that the mole has been identified?

  19. wigwam says:

    2. He gets word to Yagur somehow March 20 after the interview (”on numerous occasions from in or about 1985 through on or about March 20, 2008 Kadish engaged in telephone and e-mail conversations…”).

    Why was it “he”, who got word to Yagur. Why not yet another Israeli spy within the DoJ, FBI, or elsewhere, who learned of this through official channels. In fact maybe all of the was a plout to out an Isreali mole.

  20. brendanx says:

    Just little details, but aside from Abramoff’s West Bank charity work he helped get an Israeli telcom company a contract in House office buildings. I hadn’t realized the contract was suspended in 2006. (link feature not working: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01859.html).

    So, yeah, of course he’s an agent.

    • Anna says:

      Wonder if it was true that Israeli telecom and datamine companies had back doors into our phone systems. Remember that Fox News report by Carl Cameron just after 9/11 about spying being conducted through these systems. That four part report was taken off of Fox’s site. You can find the report on You tube.

  21. scribe says:

    This guy Kadish has an interesting history. From the Newark Star-Ledger:

    Kadish’s neighbors in the Ponds at Clearbrook in Monroe Township [Middlesex County, central Jersey], , a community of about 600 single-family homes for senior citizens, struggled to reconcile their image of a kind-hearted family man and war veteran with prosecutors’ depiction of a traitor.

    “This is a shock to me,” said Jerry Dolinger, one neighbor. “I can’t tell you he’s a bad guy. I can’t even tell you he cheats at cards, because he doesn’t. He is a fine, honorable man. His house is open to everybody. If you need a favor, he’s there any time. If you were in a fight, you’d want him on your side.”

    Kadish, who is Jewish, was born in Connecticut. He began working at the U.S. Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in 1963 and received “Secret” security clearance that October, authorities said. He retired in 1990.

    Long before that, he lived in what was then Palestine as a young man and fought for Hagana, an underground military organization that defended Israel before its establishment as a state, according to an October 2006 article in the New Jersey Jewish News. (My boldface)

    Authorities said Kadish’s brother introduced him to his future handler in the 1970s when the brother worked for an Israeli defense contractor. The handler went on to serve as the Consul for Science Affairs at the Israeli Consulate General in Manhattan between 1980 and 1985.

    His co-conspirator, who lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx [i.e., within the SDNY. Also, an upscale neighborhood with a lot of Jews living there] at the time, provided Kadish with lists of specific documents to obtain. Kadish allegedly took the materials out of the base library and brought them home to Clifton [a city in Northern NJ, west of Manhattan and east of Paterson, also conveniently within the 25 mile radius travel limit for UN diplos] in his briefcase.

    That is where his co-conspirator met him, authorities said, and took photographs of the documents in Kadish’s basement. Kadish would then return the documents to Picatinny the following day.

    On March 20 of this year, authorities said, they interviewed Kadish in connection with a grand jury investigation into espionage. He allegedly confessed, saying he was trying to help protect Israel.

    That night, authorities said, they intercepted the call Kadish’s handler made to him. Two FBI agents returned to house the next day, and he allegedly denied the conversation. Agents subpoenaed his phone records and found at least 22 phone calls between the handler and Kadish between July and November 1985.

    So, not only was he a US WWII veteran – he also fought for the Israelis, likely in the lead-up to ‘48 and maybe the ‘48 war. At 84, he’d be too young to have been there before WWII, but not after. One wonders whether his brother was a spook, too, given he introduced the handler to him….

  22. klynn says:

    Here is an interesting AIPAC story which happened here in Ohio. AIPAC directing state legislation on foreign investments regarding Iran. A very good read from February 2008. It asks a good “why question…

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/S…..2FShowFull

    IRT AIPAC in Ohio:

    It is simply bizarre that of all the organizations in the US, the organization dedicated to strengthening America’s alliance with Israel is leading the effort to shield the North Korean, Syrian and Sudanese economies from divestment and to limit the damage the divest terror movement can exact on Iran’s economy.

  23. Anna says:

    EW I always thought when the F.B.I went after Jack Anderson’s files something would come up about who was involved with Pollard.

    http://prorev.com/2006/04/fbi-…..ersons.htm

    FBI SEEKING 25 YEARS OF JACK ANDERSON’S PAPERS IN AIPAC CASE

    The Review has learned that the FBI is seeking to review all of the papers of the late investigative reporter Jack Anderson for the past 25 years as part of AIPAC case. This proposed extraordinary intrusion on press freedom and independence is expected to be rejected by the Anderson family.

    The FBI claims to have information that AIPAC defendants Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman met with Anderson and/or one of his reporters and had shared classified information and that, further, Anderson or one of this reporters met with a related individual who could be considered a foreign intelligence agent. These purported contacts are said to go back to sometime in the early 1980s. This despite the fact that the AIPAC case involves a period beginning in 1999 when Anderson was in failing health.

    Besides Paul McNulty leaving the Aipac case. Who was the recent person who had been a critical part of the investigation team who left

  24. scribe says:

    More on Mr. Kadish:

    All this, from the NJ Jewish News (Referenced in the Ledger)
    His cantor’s afraid for his health and his neighbors like him. The US government briefed the Israeli government on the arrest. The Israeli government had no comment, but expressed confident hope that the relationship between the US and Israeli governments would withstand this.

    It echoes of the Pollard case.

    And, Ben-ami and wife, at home, from October 19, 2006. This is the article which the Ledger referenced. They seem to be one of those couples which are “Nodes” in the social network – everyone knows them and they know everyone. 125 people invited for Sukkot, etc. A useful trait for a spy.
    From this article:

    Ben-Ami grew up in what was then Palestine and fought with the Hagana, the underground military organization that operated in Eretz Yisrael from 1920 to 1948. He also served in both the British and American military during World War II and is an ex-commander of the Jewish War Veterans Post 609 in Monroe. The couple is also active in the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County.

    So (and I’m supposing/deducing here), he was born in Connecticut and his family later moved to Israel, then Palestine and under British mandate, pre-WWII. 84 today, he’d have been a teenager in the late ’30s. He “grew up there”, then came to be in the British military and later transferred to the American military. Likely, he either was drafted into or volunteered for the Brits when they went against the Germans – he’d have been about 18 in ‘42 and might have lied about his age to get in (they weren’t too scrupulous about checking, needing troops). Then, after the war, he went back to Palestine to help form Israel, using whatever lessons he’d picked up along the way in the war.

    One wonders when, having grown up in Israel, he and his brother decided to come back to America, and why. I’d suspect he’d been groomed, if not recruited, for his espionage service for Israel prior to coming back to America.

    • brendanx says:

      I didn’t like the Jerusalem Post link so much. Maybe I’m just being prejudicial, but their complaints that AIPAC isn’t gung ho enough don’t seem like fertile ground. I like the atimes, though.

  25. klynn says:

    EW,

    Have you thought of a timeline for this?

    I just came across a bit of a “tin hat” site that has an amazing timeline on this, a site dedicated to “Franklingate”.

    I’d post a link but I do not want to “muddy” the quality of your post and the comments… Should I email a link for you to look at?

  26. Anna says:

    One of the more recent articles in the MSM about the trial and investigation.

    Check out the title of this article “Trial to Offer Look at World of Information Trading”

    How low will the New York Times go redefining “spying” and treason?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03…..wanted=all

    Mr. Lowell and John Nassikas III, who represents Mr. Weissman, plan to confront Ms. Rice and the other witnesses with explicit examples of exchanges in which they provided similar sensitive information to Aipac staff members as part of the regular back-channel world of diplomacy.

    Although Aipac has not been charged in the case, the trial, to be heard by Judge T. S. Ellis III, will revolve around how the group, renowned for its effectiveness in presenting Israel’s case, exerts its influence in Congress and, especially in recent years, on the executive branch.

    For Aipac and to some extent the larger pro-Israel community in the United States, the charges against Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman could raise what they regard as an unfair, even toxic question about whether some American Jews hold a loyalty to Israel that matches or exceeds their loyalty to the United States.

  27. Sara says:

    OT — NPR just reports that Miami US Attorney’s office announces it will re-try the Sear’s Tower wannabe “al-Quada bombers” for the third time. Defense Attorney asks for bail for defendants, as they have been in jail for two years, and two trials. Wonder if anyone has popped for shoes yet?

  28. radiofreewill says:

    Amended Semi-Wild-Assed-Guess (totally hypothetical):

    – Huge Israeli Political Influence/Spy-Ring Uncovered 2003/2004
    – Israel extorts Bush with NYT NSA Wiretapping Story throughout 2004

    Quid: Bush wants Wiretapping Story ’sat on’ until he’s Re-Elected,

    pro…

    Israelis Claim Secret Agreement With U.S. by Glen Kessler @WaPo

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..038;sub=AR

    “A letter that President Bush personally delivered to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon four years ago has emerged as a significant obstacle to the president’s efforts to forge a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians during his last year in office.

    Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli prime minister, said this week that Bush’s letter gave the Jewish state permission to expand the West Bank settlements that it hopes to retain in a final peace deal, even though Bush’s peace plan officially calls for a freeze of Israeli settlements across Palestinian territories on the West Bank. In an interview this week, Sharon’s chief of staff, Dov Weissglas, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed this understanding in a secret agreement reached between Israel and the United States in the spring of 2005, just before Israel withdrew from Gaza.

    U.S. officials say no such agreement exists…”

    (snip)

    So…

    The Israelis wanted to build more settlements, and what did Bush do?

    The Israelis invaded Lebanon, and what did Bush do?

    The Israelis bombed Syria, and what did Bush do?

    In every case, Bush did What the Israelis wanted him to do.

    So, while it may be that Bush was susceptible to extortion over the NSA Wiretapping story, it seems even more likely that the Punishment-for-Non-Compliance Fist was/is likely to be holding Pictures of Personal/Shameful, Non-Presidential Conduct…a lot worse than…wait for it…that whipping boy for all things shameful to Goopers…Bill Clinton.

    Abramoff getting ‘Country Club’ treatment? Why not? In this scenario – totally hypothetical, but possible – Abramoff would be a hostage, more like a captured Spy, and not just a ‘corrupt’ lobbyist.

    However, Abramoff doesn’t seem to be a very leverageable hostage, though, as Bush appears to have been compromised so badly that Chimpy is ‘giving it up’ on command…

    I’m not saying, I’m just saying…

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