AIPAC Subpoenas To Put Bush Team Under Scrutiny

[Purveyor]

Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Subpoenas issued to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and other top Bush administration officials could end up shedding unprecedented light on the Bush administration's inner workings and the government's dealings with the pro-Israel lobby.

In an unusually broad ruling Friday in the classified information case against two ex-officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a federal judge allowed the defense to subpoena 15 administration officials over the objections of the Bush administration.

In addition to Rice and Hadley, the list also includes Elliot Abrams, the deputy national security adviser who is also the administration's top policy official on the Middle East; Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state; Paul Wolfowitz, the former deputy secretary of defense; and Douglas Feith, a former undersecretary of defense.

U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Va., not only ruled as relevant government conversations with the two defendants -- Steve Rosen, AIPAC's former foreign policy boss, and Keith Weissman, his deputy and the lobby's top Iran analyst -- but also discussions that involved only U.S. officials.



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