President Bush's top national security advisers were told more than two years ago of an FBI investigation into whether classified information was passed to Israel by a powerful pro-Israeli lobbying group, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The counterintelligence investigation started earlier than the year-old criminal investigation now focusing on whether a Defense Department analyst passed secret documents to Israeli intelligence through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
A senior administration official said national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley, were "apprised of the counterintelligence investigation of AIPAC" more than two years ago.
The official said the investigation centered on whether AIPAC was acting as a "conduit" -- relaying information the group collected from the administration and the U.S. Congress to Israel
Post a Comment