After four years of grasping at straws for largely PR value, on the eve of trial, the Justice Department finally admitted the futility of their witch-hunt against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman by dropping the charges against these men. Rosen and Weissman, if you recall, are former staffers of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs committee, and the object of so many diaries of scorn on the left and the right. Continue after the fold.
The Wall Street Journal, in their breaking news headline, notes that the charges were dropped because it would be "too difficult" for the government could not prove its case. Why would it be too difficult? For starters, Rosen and Weissman were charged under the 1917 Espionage Act, but they weren't charged with espionage. Curious, right? Instead, it was the first prosecution in the 92 years the Act has been the law of the land against lobbyists backchanneling information. This is exactly what lobbyists do on a daily basis. Lobbyists peddle in information--the more accurate the information, the more credibility they have; the more support behind their case, the louder their voice is heard. Is it any surprise this law has remained dormant as to lobbyists for the last 92 years? I'm all about a living, breathing constitution--but it is simply wrong from prosecutors to bastardize a pre-World War I laws to meet their cause du jour.
In a crushing blow to the prosecution, the judge in the case required that the government prove that intent. The government simply could not prove that Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, proud Americans, ever intended to harm this great country of ours. As such, they were forced to retreat.
The charges against Rosen and Weissman were bogus from day 1. So why, then, did the government pursue them? Simply put, it was a PR effort to knock AIPAC down a peg. No member of the Bush Administration's Justice Department could venture to tell this community that they actually thought Rosen or Weissman committed a crime. And now that Rosen and Weissman have been vindicated because the government's case was bogus and unprovable, the facts bear themselves out. However, for fully four years, opponents of AIPAC have been able to cite the Rosen/Weissman charges as shadowy evidence of AIPAC's purported nefarious deeds. Hogwash. This is a case of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", and the unintended consequences of the government's witch-hunt and the staffers subsequent complete vindication is that AIPAC comes out stronger now than it was four years ago.
On one key item, however, AIPAC will continue to be weakened. Unlike the government's lawsuit, Steve Rosen has a very legitimate lawsuit against AIPAC. He is suing them for $21 million for defamation. And while the amount of damages could well fall far short of this number, his case is both legitimate and likely victorious. Although I am proudly a member of America's foremost pro-Israel organization, AIPAC will have to settle here for many millions of dollars, and in a era when donations are moderately down due to economic circumstances, this settlement will hurt.
UPDATE: The government's motion to dismiss can be found here.
UPDATE 2: Glenn Greenwald agrees with me here (see Update 2 and hat tip to Pathman)