CRIME AND PUNISHMENT:
Government Department

In 1977, the Jewish governor of Maryland, Marvin Mandel, and four others were "convicted of conspiracy to have the Governor influence race track legislation in return for $380,000 in bribes." [AYRES, B.D., Judge Sets Aside Verdict in Mandel Fraud, New York Times, November 13, 1987, p. A1] (Shortly thereafter, in 1982, another Maryland Jewish politician was sentenced to prison. Baltimore City Council President Walter Orlinsky pleaded guilty to "one count of extortion ... [He also] conceded that the Government could prove other charges against him.") [NYT, 9-23-82, p. A24] [BALTMORE JEWISH TIMES, 1-23-98, p. 8]

Jewish Supreme Court justice Abe Fortas resigned his position in 1969, after controversy over his "extrajudicial" activities, including financial links to convicted Jewish financier Louis Wolfson),
Brian Allen Murphy,
The Brandeis/
Frankfurter Connection. The Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court Justices, Anchor Books/Doubleday,
NY, 1983, p. 4-5

CIA's Sidney Gottlieb: Pusher, Assassin, & Pimp: U.S. Official Poisoner Dies. Counterpunch, [Undated]
"Sidney Gottlieb, who for more than two decades managed the CIA's Technical Services Division, died on March 10. His obituaries in the New York Times and the Washington Post tended to focus own Gottlieb's testing of LSD on himself and other CIA officers, portraying him as a kind of Merry Prankster, the CIA's very own Ken Kesey. In fact, with Gottlieb's death, America has lost its prime poisoner. For many years, most notably in the 1950s and 1960s, Gottlieb presided over the CIA's technical services division and supervised preparation of lethal poisons, experiments in mind control and administration of LSD and other psycho-active drugs to unwitting subjects ... Gottlieb was a man of darkness ... From the beginning, Gottlieb saw himself as part of the operational wing of the CIA. Even the forays into LSD research, Gottlieb saw a testing for a potential chemical warfare weapon. He arranged a contract with Eli Lily to produce synthetic LSD 'in tonnage quantities.' The aim was to have enough acid to incapacitate large populations and armies. By the early 1960s Gottlieb's techniques and potions were being fully deployed in the field. Well-known is Gottlieb's journey to the Congo, where his little black bag held an Agency-developed biotoxin scheduled for Patrice Lumumba's toothbrush. He also tried to manage Iraq's general Kassim with a handkerchief doctored with botulinum and there were the endless poisons directed at Fidel Castro, from the LSD the Agency wanted to spray in his radio booth to the poisonous fountain pen intended for Castro that was handed by a CIA man to Rolando Cubela on November 22, 1963."

Annals of Espionage. The Traitor (The Case Against Jonathan Pollard), by Seymour Hersh. The New Yorker, January 18, 1999, [posted at freerepublic.com]
"The President's willingness to consider clemency for [American Jewish spy for Israel Jonathan] Pollard so upset the intelligence community that its leaders took an unusual step: they began to go public. In early December, four retired admirals who had served as director of Naval Intelligence circulated an article, eventually published in the Washington Post, in which they argued that Pollard's release would be 'irresponsible' and a victory for what they depicted as a 'clever public relations campaign.' Since then, sensitive details about the secrets Pollard gave away have been made public by CBS and NBC. In the course of my own interviews for this account, the officials who knew the most about Jonathan Pollard made it clear that they were talking because they no longer had confidence that President Clinton would do what they believed was the right thing -- keep Pollard locked up. Pollard, these officials told me, had done far more damage to American national security than was ever made known to the public; for example, he betrayed elements of four major American intelligence systems ... Pollard was paid well by the Israelis: he received a salary that eventually reached twenty-five hundred dollars a month, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash disbursements for hotels, meals, and even jewelry ... Once in jail, Pollard became increasingly fervent in proclaiming his support for Israel. In the Washington Post last summer, the journalist Peter Perl wrote that even Pollard's friends saw him as "obsessed with vindication, consumed by the idea that he is a victim of anti-semitism and that Israel can rescue him through diplomatic and political pressure." Pollard has also turned increasingly to Orthodox Judaism ... Pollard gave the Israelis vast amounts of data dealing with specific American intelligence systems and how they worked."

Reform Movement Leader Renews Calls for Clemency for Jonathan Pollard. Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, December 18, 2000
"Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, today forwarded a letter from Rhea Schindler to President Clinton urging that convicted spy Jonathan Pollard be freed. Pollard was convicted in 1984 of spying for Israel, and has served one of the longest prison terms of any American ever convicted of spying for an ally of the United States. The letter was written by Rhea Schindler, widow of the late Rabbi Alexander Schindler, who served as both President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1973–1996) and Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (1976–1978). Rabbi Schindler, who passed away unexpectedly in November, was one of American Jewry's most passionate and respected voices, especially on issues relating to the American-Israeli relationship."

Plot Thickens Around Ex-CIA Director John Deutch.
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. April 2000
"Asked at a public lecture at the Smithsonian Institution to rate former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Millis, executive director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a former CIA operations officer, unhesitatingly proclaimed Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor John Deutch, who headed the agency from May 1995 to December 1996, the worst ever ... Deutch, whose security clearance has been revoked by the CIA, is under investigation for security lapses. So far all that has emerged is that he allegedly prepared his regular top-secret briefings for the president and selected cabinet members at home on an unclassified computer, on which he also stored highly classified reference material, all of which he then left unprotected while other members of the family used the same computer to send e-mails and even visit naughty Web sites, thus opening the secrets contained in Deutch’s CIA-owned computer to possible outside penetration and compromise ... CIA Inspector General Britt Snider’s 86-page report on the security lapse describes receiving a deluge of e-mails from CIA employees who were outraged that the security review was being directed or, according to the e-mails, delayed by CIA Deputy Director Nora Slatkin [also Jewish]. She was brought by Deutch with him from the Pentagon after he took over the CIA, and, it was revealed, had accepted a job offered by Deutch with his next employer, Citibank, even as she continued to monitor the security investigation of her past and future employer. In fact, Snider’s report charged that Slatkin 'had the effect of delaying a prompt and thorough investigation of this matter' ... Some newspapers attributed the on-going investigation to a 'wave of anti-Semitism' at the CIA because Deutch has been described in Jewish community weeklies as 'the first practicing Jew to head the CIA' and with having close ties to Israel, including Israeli relatives and part ownership of a house in West Jerusalem.”

Deutch Balked at Nondisclosure. Insight on the News. April 23, 2001
"[John] Deutch, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims he never intended to violate secrecy agreements when he stored 17,000 CIA files on his unsecured home computer. His attorneys insist he was not aware he had unauthorized documents in his possession despite repeated debriefings warning him that he must 'return all materials' or face criminal charges. Prior to leaving office, President Clinton killed the criminal probe by issuing a pardon to his longtime friend, effectively putting an end to allegations Deutch maintained 'black-program' intelligence files, consisting of electronic-warfare plans, on his home computer."

How Are the Mighty Fallen! U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk 's Lost (and Found) Security Clearance. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2000
"Martin Indyk, America’s ambassador to Israel, is a Zionist. Israeli newspapers reported that Indyk declared himself such when he went to Israel in 1995 as the first American Jewish ambassador to the Jewish state. Indyk’s security clearance was lifted by the State Department in September for 'suspected violations' of security standards. Despite its restoration in October, a thousand questions arise ... But it was in America’s capital that Indyk—former deputy director of research at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel’s Washington, DC lobby, and the first executive director of the AIPAC-spin-off Washington Institute for Near East Policy—leapt to a sudden stardom. In 1993 newly elected President Bill Clinton appointed Indyk chief Middle East adviser on the National Security Council. After having lived in New York and Washington for a decade, Indyk benefitted from a speeded-up process, to acquire U.S. citizenship only 10 days before assuming his new duties ... Given [his] verbal compulsion, it would seem only natural for Indyk to treat the Israeli officers with whom he has dealt over the past five years in both Washington and Tel Aviv as constituting no danger to U.S. interests—and thus to let them see classified U.S. intelligence as a matter of course. That, in fact, is the very basis for Indyk’s recent troubles, according to an article by Israeli military expert Ze’ev Schiff in the Hebrew-language newspaper Ha’aretz."

Blind Trust. The True Story of Enid Greene and Joe Waldholtz.
Utah Books, [Book review]
"Blind Trust is a riveting true story that details the day-to-day events that led to an intelligent attorney and U.S. Congresswoman from Utah trusting a man in high political circles, a man she would marry and whose secret con-man deceptions almost put her in jail. How they met, married, had a child, and moved to Washington, where the truth finally emerged: that virtually everything about Joe, who represented himself as a multi-millionaire, was a lie. He was in fact penniless, meaning the $4 million he 'borrowed' from Enid's wealthy father—$1.7 million of which was used to finance Enid's congressional campaign—was not only down the drain, but caused the election to be tainted as well ... She was a politician rising out of the West. He was a kingmaker rising out of the East. Together they posed a most formidable team. They were well-connected, well-prepared, and very well-off...or so it seemed. Blind Trust is the story of Enid Greene and Joe Waldholtz [who is Jewish] -- or, as they came to be known after their faces became a staple on the nightly news, Enid & Joe. It chronicles a tale of betrayal that, as it unfolded publicly, caused jaws to drop across the nation."

Mondo Washington. Village Voice, August 15-21, 2001
"You might have to be crazy. Or at least foolhardy. But you could try to bring Henry Kissinger to justice for crimes against humanity. Consider, though, what happened to the last people to talk even jokingly about plans for a citizen's arrest of the real-life model for Dr. Strangelove ... An indictment of Henry Kissinger for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes would include (but not be confined to) the following: VIETNAM: Kissinger scuttled peace talks in 1968, paving the way for Richard Nixon's victory in the presidential race. Half the battle deaths in Vietnam took place between 1968 and 1972, not to mention the millions of civilians throughout Indochina who were killed. CAMBODIA: Kissinger persuaded Nixon to widen the war with massive bombing of Cambodia and Laos. No one had suggested we go to war with either of these countries. By conservative estimates, the U.S. killed 600,000 civilians in Cambodia and another 350,000 in Laos. BANGLADESH: Using weapons supplied by the U.S., General Yahya Khan overthrew the democratically elected government and murdered at least half a million civilians in 1971. In the White House, the National Security Council wanted to condemn these actions. Kissinger refused. Amid the killing, Kissinger thanked Khan for his "delicacy and tact." CHILE: Kissinger helped to plan the 1973 U.S.-backed overthrow of the democratically elected Salvador Allende and the assassination of General René Schneider. Right-wing general Augusto Pinochet then took over. Moderates fled for their lives. Hit men, financed by the CIA, tracked down Allende supporters and killed them. These attacks included the car bombing of Allende's foreign minister, Orlando Letelier, and an aide, Ronni Moffitt, at Sheridan Circle in downtown Washington. EAST TIMOR: In 1975 President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger met with Indonesia's corrupt strongman Suharto. Kissinger told reporters the U.S. wouldn't recognize the tiny country of East Timor, which had recently won independence from the Portuguese. Within hours Suharto launched an invasion, killing, by some estimates, 200,000 civilians."

Gore Family Tradition Includes Aid From Communist Oil Tycoon.
Insight on the News, November 20, 2000.
"It is hard to conceive that a figure of such international stature as [Jewish mogul] Armand Hammer, who died in 1990 at age 92, could have been as contemptible a swindler as he apparently was, but such is the inescapable conclusion of Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer by Edward Jay Epstein. A secret agent for the Soviet Union since 1921, Hammer managed to make and lose several fortunes during his long life, along the way skirting investigations of money-laundering, fraud, conspiracy, espionage, bribery and countless other crimes by the FBI, Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and other government agencies. The tale of his serial betrayals (of his family, his religion, his country), endless self-aggrandizement and success at courting the rich and famous makes fascinating reading, but there is a contemporary hook: Hammer loomed very large in the lives of one of America’s prominent political families, the Albert Gores ... [Hammer] was utterly unscrupulous and very adept at stroking the powerful. When, through the liquor concession, a wife’s fortune and other machinations, he was able to achieve great wealth, he immediately used it to purchase political influence. In 1950, he made Rep. Albert Gore Sr. of Tennessee a partner in his cattle-breeding business, which brought Gore a substantial profit. When J. Edgar Hoover considered moving against Hammer for his provable treason, he stayed his hand at least in part because Hammer had friends in high places, including Gore." [Also, here's an interview about Hammer at Booknotes with Edward Epstein, author of Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer].

How Mr. Clean Got His Hands Dirty. Sunday Telegraph [London], [posted at freerepublic.com], March 6, 2000
"[Armand] Hammer, who died in 1990 aged 92, was one of the century's most sinister figures. Kremlin papers released after the collapse of the USSR and exhaustively researched by Ed Epstein in his book Dossier prove that, from the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hammer was a lifelong 'agent of influence' of the Soviet Politburo and an accomplice of every Russian leader from Lenin to Gorbachev. In the 1930s, to take one example, he was actively trading with Stalin, routing valuable goods through Germany to disguise their origin (a fact he denied to the end of his days). And in 1931, Hammer set up a banking operation in Paris specifically to provide foreign exchange funds, which were otherwise beyond reach, for Stalin's regime. At the same time as he was serving the Russians, Hammer was also the Godfather of American corporate corruption. As Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Inc. of Los Angeles - an industrial colossus with annual sales of $22 billion at the time of Hammer's death - Hammer bribed and suborned elected representatives at all levels of American life, from city assemblymen and mayors to presidents. Hammer was one of the moneybags behind Richard Nixon's Watergate. He was also the boss of the company that owned the Piper Alpha North Sea platform, which erupted in 1988 with the deaths of 167 men and whose management and safety practices were excoriated in Lord Cullen's report for the British Government. If the crime of corporate homicide had existed then, Hammer might well have been charged. For chicanery, fraud, bribery, corruption, theft and self-promotion, Armand Hammer made Robert Maxwell [also Jewish] look like a beginner. Hammer owned Al Gore Snr. Hammer kept Gore, as he liked to say, 'in my back-pocket.' When he said this, Hammer would touch his wallet and chuckle. Throughout the whole of his life, Al Gore Snr. and his family depended on pay-outs, kickbacks and subventions from Hammer. Like his father's before him, Al Gore Jnr's political career was lavishly sponsored by Hammer from the moment it began until Hammer died, only two years before Gore joined Clinton in the 1992 race for the White House."

Hard Fall Contrasts with Early Success as a Political Prodigy. Miami Herald, October 27, 1999
"Al Gutman, a garrulous boy wonder in his first election to the Legislature at 25, will officially resign from public office this morning at 40, in a likely finale for a tragic political career once charmed. Havana-born and Jewish, transplanted to Miami as a child, Gutman campaigned with equal ease in Little Havana and Miami Beach. His intimate connection to constituents is credited for a popularity serving him even under indictment, winning him reelection to the state Senate last fall by 300 votes. 'If somebody were profiling the perfect candidate for Al Gutman's Senate district, they would come up with Al Gutman,' says Mary Ellen Miller, chairman of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County. Gutman 'understood and cared about grass-roots politics,' crossing cultural lines 'beautifully' ... Gutman seized powerful posts, serving as chairman of the Senate Health Care Committee, then chairman of Criminal Justice until just last year. He quietly forfeited his leadership, first after controversy over collection of a $500,000 consulting fee in the sale of a Miami HMO while he controlled health care legislation, and later facing criminal charges."

Mob Said Behind Bill. polkonline.com, 1998
"Last year, two Arizona state lawmakers introduced legislation that would have let lenders charge interest rates as high as 300 percent on loans secured by car titles. Such an annual interest rate would have been more than eight times the current cap. In Arizona the cap stands at 36 percent. But the special interest pushing the bill was an Atlanta-based lending company called Title Loans of America that has alleged ties to organized crime, The Arizona Republic reported in its Sunday editions. The legislation passed the House, but died in the Senate after an attack by the Attorney General's Office troubled by the high interest rates it would have allowed. The office wasn't aware of the alleged mob link. A principal owner of Title Loans of America is Alvin Malnik, banned from New Jersey casinos in 1993 because Garden State officials alleged he had ties to organized criminal activities and participated in illegal transactions, the newspaper reported."

Sharks in the Shadows. KWTW News 9 [Oklahoma], February 8, 1999
"Some Oklahoma House members accepted the contributions about the same time they passed a committee bill that would have legalized a type of loan sharking. The money went to lawmakers on the House Banking and Finance Committee. At least half the members of that committee -- ten of them -- accepted money connected to an out-of-state company called Title Loans of America. Documents uncovered by News 9 show that particular business has ties to organized crime. The bill would have opened the door for one company to make millions off Oklahoma consumers by charging interest rates around 240 percent. The Investigation begins in Atlanta. Quick-cash car title loans are illegal in Oklahoma, but Title Loans of America (TLA) in Atlanta makes no secret it's desire to change that. In a growing number of states TLA finances at 14 to 20 percent per month (240% a year) on certain loans, while putting a clients car at risk of repossession ... Consumer advocates hate the idea. 'It's just a dirty business,' says Consumer Attorney Gerard Lupa. 'A dirty operation and it just brings more misery than relief to anybody.' William Brennen with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society says they (TLA) are in fact loan sharks. 'Ripping people off and extracting tremendous penalties if they don't pay,' he adds. But unlike the underworld loan sharks of the past, Title Loans of America doesn't have to extract high interest rates by force. It's taking the modern political highway to legalize it's fees ... Questions about buying access pale in comparison to what News 9 uncovered. Reputed organized crime figure Alvin Malnik of Boca Raton, Florida is co-owner of Title Loans of America. Federal and state documents uncovered by News 9 show Malnik worked for New Jersey Mafia boss Meyer Lansky, mostly financing real estate deals."

Enemies Will Try to Paint Mayoral Hopeful Goodman as Bad Man.
Las Vegas Journal, March 7, 1999
"The 1999 Las Vegas mayor's race just got dangerous. And colorful. And a little weird. And, thank goodness, interesting. Criminal defense attorney Oscar Goodman tends to make things interesting wherever he goes. But can the celebrated and scorned mob mouthpiece go all the way to City Hall? Conventional political wisdom says Goodman doesn't stand a chance. He has too much blood-soaked baggage, too many notorious former clients who now get their mail in the slammer, the cemetery or the Witness Protection Program. Goodman long ago became married to the mob, at least in the public's eye ... Goodman once said he'd rather have his daughter date Chicago mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro than an FBI agent. Until the FBI recorded a mafia induction ceremony in New England several years ago, Goodman was known nationally for saying, 'There is no mob' ... Goodman will be called bad for the city's image, bad for business, bad for everything God-fearing Las Vegans hold dear. In the hypocritical name of saving Las Vegas from sliding into the abyss of its not-so-distant past, Goodman will be savaged. His candidacy will not become a symbol that our community has grown up and can laugh at itself. No, Oscar Goodman will become known once again as a dangerous man." Goodman won the election and is the mayor of Las Vegas.

The Gersten Affair. Miami New Times, April 4, 2001
"Eight years, 10,000 miles, and eleven time zones don't seem to be enough to insulate former [Dade] county Commissioner Joe Gersten from his notorious Miami past. Despite attempts to fashion a new life in Australia, the ghosts of his local infamy haunt his every move ... Gersten's calamitous fall began April 29, 1992, when he reported to police that his ice-blue Mercedes-Benz had been stolen from his Hardee Road home in Coral Gables. The next morning police spotted small-time drug dealer Kenneth Elswick driving the car in Miami and arrested him. Elswick in turn led investigators to Claudia Lira, a prostitute who helped him rob Gersten at knifepoint while the commissioner allegedly was having sex and smoking crack with hooker Tracy Sheehan in a ramshackle drug den on NE 31st Street, just east of Biscayne Boulevard. Another eyewitness, Robert Maldonado, corroborated their story, saying the Mercedes had been taken from the crackhouse -- not Gersten's home. The scandal quickly erupted and dominated local news for weeks. Gersten fueled the headlines with allegations he was being set up by political foes ... The State Attorney's Office, at the time led by Janet Reno, tried to force Gersten to answer questions about the stolen Mercedes, but he refused, claiming that prosecutors had set a trap: If he stood by his version of events, he risked being charged with perjury; but if he admitted to the crackhouse incident, he could be charged with filing a false police report. On March 17, 1993, Circuit Court Judge Amy Dean ordered Gersten to respond. He still refused. Dean then found him in contempt of court and tossed him in jail, where he sat for 26 days. He was released after an appeals court agreed to review his challenge to the judge's order. That September, while visiting a friend in Hawaii, Gersten bought a ticket to the South Seas and never returned ... In recent years Gersten has been living in Neutral Bay, a suburb north of Sydney [Australia]. He applied for political asylum in 1993, asserting he was being persecuted by Janet Reno and a slew of political rivals. He was denied refugee status after a panel of judges ruled against him in July 2000."

A Plane Old Pardon. Grupo Shachar Brasil, 2001
"Three years ago, Al Schwimmer visited Las Vegas and stayed with Brian Greenspun, the son of his good friend Hank Greenspun [publisher of the Las Vegas Sun]. 'Greenspun told me that this time I was an especially honored guest,' says Schwimmer, 'because I was sleeping in the bed that President Clinton had slept in just the week before.' Greenspun and Clinton studied law together at Yale University and have remained friends ever since. Greenspun enjoyed 'an open door' to the president. Two months ago, he decided to use this connection to ask Clinton to pardon Schwimmer. In 1950, Al Schwimmer, the founder of the Israel Aircraft Industry and a close friend of Shimon Peres, was tried and convicted in a California court of illegally exporting arms and breaking embargo laws. His crime was that he purchased United States Army surplus planes and weapons and gave them to Israel. He received a $10,000 fine and his rights as an American citizen were revoked. He was no longer allowed to vote, was summarily discharged from his reserve unit, and was forbidden to work for government institutions. Three years after Schwimmer slept in the same bed as Clinton, he received a presidential pardon."

The Atom Spy Case, FBI
"Investigation of Harry Gold's admissions led to the identification of David Greenglass, a U.S. Army enlisted man, and Soviet Agent, who had been assigned by the Army to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1944 and 1945. Gold stated that he had picked up espionage material from Greenglass during June, 1945, on instructions of 'John,' his Soviet principal. 'John' was subsequently identified as Anatoli Yakovlev, former Soviet vice-consul in New York City, who left the United States in December, 1946. Interrogation of Greenglass and his wife, Ruth, resulted in admissions of espionage activity under the instructions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, brother-in -law and sister, respectively, of David Greenglass. Max Elitcher, a Naval Ordnance engineer and an admitted Communist, was interviewed. He disclosed that Morton Sobell, radar engineer and former classmate of Elitcher and Rosenberg at a college in New York City, was also involved in the Rosenberg espionage network."

Rosenberg's Brother Admits Lie Leading to Execution,
Washington Times, December 6, 2001
"Nearly 50 years after convicted Soviet spy Ethel Rosenberg was executed, her brother has admitted that he lied under oath to save himself and says he is unconcerned that his perjury may have sent his sister and her husband to the electric chair. "As a spy who turned his family in I don't care," David Greenglass said in a television interview broadcast yesterday. "I sleep very well." The admission may shed new light on the Rosenberg case, one of the most infamous events of the Cold War. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in Sing Sing prison in June 1953, two years after a sensational trial on charges of conspiring to steal U.S. atomic secrets for the Soviet Union. They were the only people ever executed in the United States for Cold War espionage ... Mr. Greenglass, Ethel's younger brother, admits in the book that he, too, was a spy who gave the Soviets information about atomic research and a detonator invented by another scientist. When the Rosenbergs came to trial, Mr. Greenglass was also under indictment and worried that he and his wife, Ruth, would be convicted. He says Roy Cohn, an assistant prosecutor and later aide to Mr. McCarthy, encouraged him to lie."

Hunt for a Mole, Time, May 19, 1997
"IS A SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL IN WASHINGTON PASSING INTELLIGENCE TO ISRAEL? ... Last week the Washington Post revealed that the National Security Agency's electronic snoopers, which had been listening in on the phone conversation of an Israeli intelligence officer, uncovered tantalizing evidence that Israel may have a mole even better placed than [Jewish American Israeli spy Jonathan] Pollard was: a senior U.S. official code-named 'Mega' who may be passing on U.S. diplomatic intelligence. The White House, which was shaken as much by the fact that the story had leaked as it was over the prospect of another Israeli spy, refused all comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denounced the report as 'totally baseless.' Added Eliahu Ben-Elissar, Israel's ambassador in Washington: 'Certainly after the Pollard affair, we would have been crazy to spy on the U.S.' But not crazy enough to go cold turkey, say U.S. intelligence officials. The FBI, which is investigating the Mega case, has grumbled privately that Israeli espionage agents routinely prowl California's Silicon Valley and Boston's Route 128 corridor for high-tech secrets ... But even the hint of another Israeli-spy scandal touches raw nerves in the U.S. and abroad. Jewish organizations accused the Pentagon of anti-Semitism last year after they learned that the Defense Investigative Service had sent a memo to military contractors warning that the Israeli government might might try to recruit Jewish Americans as spies. The Pentagon quickly disavowed the memo. 'Somebody is trying to destroy or hurt U.S.-Israeli relations,' Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman said of the Mega report."

Latest Stories Mossad/Mex Bomb Arrest, rense.com, December 2001
A series of translated articles from Mexican newspapers about the arrest of two Israelis (Gersson Smike an Ben Zui), allegedly with weapons and explosives, at the Mexican Congress.

News Highlights from October 22 to October 29, 2001,
City Paper. The Baltic States (The Town Crier)
"Lithuania has formally requested that Israel extradite 81-year-old Nachman Dushanski [and also Semyon Berkis-Burkov], charged by Lithuanian prosecutors with genocide for allegedly taking part in mass repressions during the Soviet era. Dushanski, a Lithuanian-born man of Jewish decent who emigrated to Israel 12 years ago, allegedly worked for the Soviet secret police for over thirty years, starting in 1940—the year Red Army forces first occupied Lithuania. A Vilnius court earlier this month issued an arrest warrant for Dushanski, opening the way for prosecutors on October 29 to ask for his deportation from Israel to stand trail. The indictment names nine people that Dushanski allegedly either helped to deport or execute. Prosecutors say his victims included anti-Soviet resisters who had sought refuge in area forests to escape persecution by communist authorities. After regaining independence as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Lithuania vowed to bring perpetrators of both Nazi- and Soviet-era abuses to justice. Some Jewish groups have said Lithuania hasn't done enough to bring Nazis to justice, while some Lithuanians, in turn, complain of a double standard: that while Nazi criminals are widely sought, Soviet ones are mostly ignored. Israel has earlier refused to cooperate with investigations of Dushanski, denying several Lithuanian requests for help in questioning him."

Ex-Congressman's Friends Seek Defense,
Yahoo! News (from Associated Press), January 9, 2002
"Friends of a former congressman charged with swindling more than $10 million are soliciting funds to pay for experts in an effort to prove that mental illness led him to lose the money. Edward Mezvinsky, 64, a former congressman from Iowa now living in Pennsylvania, was indicted in March on 66 counts of fraud and related charges for allegedly bilking more than $10 million. He faces trial in April and plans a defense based on mental illness ... Twelve of Mezvinsky's friends, including religious and political leaders, sent a letter to about 100 people seeking money to pay for expensive mental-health experts ... The letter is signed by Edward B. Shils, a University of Pennsylvania professor, Jonathan Yarowsky, a former presidential special counsel and former general counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), and Rabbi Gerald Wolpe, former rabbi of the Lower Merion temple the Mezvinskys attended ... Mezvinsky, who likely faces seven to nine years in prison if convicted on all counts, is married to former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, who represented Pennsylvania's Montgomery County from 1993 to 1995. Since 1999, the Mezvinskys have been the target of lawsuits alleging they owe at least $7.4 million to banks and individuals. Both have filed for bankruptcy; Margolies-Mezvinsky has not been charged with any wrongdoing."

Accusations against Davis resurface,
Sacramento Bee, October 8, 2002
"In a move that could renew charges that [California] Gov. Gray Davis engaged in improper campaign fund-raising tactics years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal in the case that would have forever kept the accusations against him secret. The decision lets stand a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a federal judge in Sacramento must release documents containing allegations about Davis' conduct when he was an assemblyman in the 1980s and later state controller ... Sources have told The Bee that the letters indicate Nathanson had accused Davis of seeking campaign donations from people who, with Nathanson's cooperation, would get favorable treatment by the commission. But Karlton ruled that the letters 'contain no newsworthy information' and that the accusations against the politician could harm that individual's reputation. The 9th Circuit overturned Karlton in December 2001, ruling that there was 'no adequate justification' for withholding the documents. But the letters were not released because an unnamed 'private citizen' appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the names from being revealed."

Treason Still Shadows J.R. Oppenheimer,
Insight on the News, October 9, 2002
"Vladimir Putin's attendance at a reunion of KGB veterans at the notorious Lubyanka prison, and his embrace of Vladimir Kryuchkov — the former KGB chief who led the August 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev — has coincided with yet more disclosures about the successes achieved by Soviet spies during the Cold War ... [A Soviet memo] confirmed that in 1942 [the Jewish head of the American nuclear bomb project, J.R.] Oppenheimer, as an unlisted member of the Communist Party, 'informed us about the beginning of work' on a U.S. atomic bomb and then 'he provided cooperation in access to research for several of our tested sources, including a relative of Comrade Browder ... Clearly this memo is important in that it serves to confirm Oppenheimer's covert membership in the CPUSA, although by 1954 the FBI had accumulated a mass of evidence from informants, listening devices and wiretaps to prove that at the very least several senior CPUSA officials in California had regarded the physicist as a covert member. But what about the other assertions, that Oppie had alerted the Soviets to the existence of the Manhattan Project and that he had enabled other Communists to penetrate it?"

Restitution Exec Was Probed on Spending Sher Resigned After Inquiry,
[Jewish] Forward, November 1, 2002
"The top American professional of an international Holocaust restitution commission was investigated for allegedly misappropriating commission funds for personal use before resigning last summer, according to sources and an internal document written by the commission's chairman. Neal Sher, former chief of staff in the Washington office of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, was investigated by the commission after admitting 'unauthorized reimbursements of his ICHEIC travel expenses,' the internal commission document states. The document was written by the chairman of the Holocaust commission, former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger. Following the investigation, which was subjected to a 'review' by a former FBI chief, Judge William Webster, Sher resigned in June and paid 'full and immediate restitution,' the document states. A source with direct knowledge of the situation, as well as other sources close to the commission, verified the existence and content of the document. Although these allegations were made, the Forward has not established that they are true. Sher is widely admired for his groundbreaking work as the federal government's chief Nazi hunter during 11 years as director of the Office of Special Investigations of the U.S. Department of Justice. During that time he oversaw the denaturalization and deportation of dozens of onetime Nazi war criminals."

Trust No One,
Sidney Riley: The Man, Undated
"The Man Who Knew Everything...' 'The Man Who Never Made a Mistake'... 'An International Crook of the Highest Order...' The man best known as Sidney George Reilly [born Salomon Rosenblum] -- although he used many names-- spent his life in the shadows of international intrigue and counted among his legion of allies, accomplices and victims the likes of Winston Churchill, the mysterious Basil Zaharoff and Boris Savinkov. Usually portrayed as a master spy, Reilly's real exploits exceeded anything credited to Fleming's fictional Bond. The son of a Polish Jewish family in Imperial Russia, he early embarked on an amazing, daring and often bewildering career which led him to assume the personas of an Anglo-Irish gentleman, an international arms-merchant and a Bolshevik commissar among many others. He was a slightly different person to every man who knew him and every woman who loved him. But Reilly was as much a cunning master criminal as secret agent, amassing a fortune by the ruthless bartering of influence and information. He was used and feared by capitalists and commissars alike. Was he a dedicated anti-communist, the Soviet's first 'mole,' or simply a bold and unscrupulous con man?"

Barak could face U.S. arrest in Marc Rich affair,
Ha'aretz (Israel), November 8, 2002
"Former prime minister Ehud Barak could be arrested the next time he sets foot in the United States, the Israeli Embassy in Washington warned recently. The arrest threat stems from the fact that Barak has so far failed to reply to questions posed by federal prosecutors in New York who are investigating the pardon that former president Bill Clinton granted Jewish financier Marc Rich. But a senior government official dismissed the threat as 'not serious,' saying: 'The likelihood of Barak being arrested in the U.S. is zilch - about the same as the likelihood of Israel arresting a former American president who visited here.' Clinton pardoned Rich, who had been living in Switzerland for the previous 17 years to avoid prosecution on charges of massive tax evasion and illegal oil deals with Iran, just before he left office in early 2001. It later emerged that several prominent people - including not only Barak, but also Rich's ex-wife, Denise, who is a major contributor to the Democratic Party and even funded Clinton's presidential library - had urged Clinton to grant the pardon. Federal prosecutors therefore opened an investigation to determine whether the pardon had involved any criminal aspects, such as bribery, and in this context, they asked permission to interrogate Barak about his involvement in the affair. A deal was reached with the Israeli authorities whereby the prosecutors would send Barak a list of questions and he would reply in writing by October 27. However, he has not yet done so ... Rich has been a generous donor to Israeli cultural and educational institutions for years, and at one point he even accepted Israeli citizenship. In his letter to Clinton, Barak also said that Rich had assisted Mossad operations overseas."

Ruddock steps in with visa for US 'refugee',
Sidney Morning Herald, December 22 2002
"Joe Gersten reckons all his Christmases have come at once. Mr Gersten has spent nearly 10 years trying unsuccessfully to convince a string of judges that he was a political refugee from the US after becoming embroiled in sex-and-drugs allegations in Florida. Now, though, thanks to the personal intervention of Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock, Mr Gersten has been allowed to settle in Australia. The minister gave the 53-year-old lawyer, a former Florida State senator and local government politician, a permanent residency visa after scores of Mr Gersten's friends wrote in support of his cause. Mr Ruddock advised Mr Gersten last week he had intervened in the case and granted him an employer nomination scheme visa. He gave no reasons ... The saga began in Miami in 1992 when Mr Gersten reported his blue Mercedes-Benz stolen from outside his house. Two wanted criminals caught driving the car told police Mr Gersten had lent it to them to go and buy drugs during a session at a crack cocaine house where he had sex with prostitutes and took drugs. There was an election at the time for Mr Gersten's position as a commissioner in Dade County. Mr Gersten became convinced that the affair was being orchestrated by his political enemies. At their head, he believed, was Janet Reno, then Florida State Attorney and later federal Attorney-General in Bill Clinton's presidential administration. Mr Gersten's refusal to answer the questions led to him being jailed for contempt and ultimately suspended from the Florida bar. He has steadfastly denied the sex-and-drugs allegations, which, as his legal team found out in the past few years, were linked to other events ... Last year the US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform said there was evidence to suggest that material which could have exonerated Mr Gersten was ignored or covered up."

Former Congressman To Spend 6 Years In Jail. Ed Mezvinsky Claims Bipolar Disorder Contributed To Crimes,
January 9, 2003
"Former U.S. Rep. Ed Mezvinsky pleaded guilty to stealing $10.4 million from his friends, family and business associates and even his mother-in-law . Mezvinsky tearfully expressed remorse before being sentenced Thursday to six years, eight months in prison for defrauding business associates, friends and family. Federal prosecutors called Mezvinsky, 65, a 'con man' who faked mental illness to avoid punishment for bilking friends and business associates. They were seeking a nine to 11-year prison term for the disgraced lawmaker, who pleaded guilty to 31 counts of fraud in September. Through tears, Mezvinsky told U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell that he still fails to completely understand his actions. 'I went into a spiral that turned into the house of cards that fell,' Mezvinsky said. Dalzell gave credit to Mezvinsky for accepting responsibility with a guilty plea, but rejected a plea for leniency over Mezvinsky's alleged mental capacity ... Mezvinsky and his wife, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, who also served in Congress, were once high-profile Democrats who hobnobbed with Bill and Hillary Clinton and raised 11 children, some adopted, at their suburban Philadelphia mansion. Prosecutors said Mezvinsky began soliciting cash for fraudulent schemes in the 1980s, and eventually collected millions for business ventures that never materialized, including an oil deal, a coin trading company and an effort to sell bracelets in Africa. In the meantime, Mezvinsky fell victim to several Nigerian investment scams and lost much of his borrowed money. He blamed the losses on a bipolar disorder and a bad reaction to anti-malaria drug Lariam."

Feds focus on Segal's money to pols,
Chicago Sun-Times, February 21, 2003
"Embattled Near North Insurance owner Michael Segal raided a company account to funnel money to big-name politicians, including nearly $140,000 to Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd) and $50,000 to former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, prosecutors alleged Thursday. Segal also told employees to make contributions to other politicians--including Mayor Daley, Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Gov. Blagojevich when he was running for Congress--and then Segal would secretly repay his workers, the feds say. Such donations are illegal, but the politicians themselves aren't accused of wrongdoing. The court papers filed in the Segal case Thursday add fresh, important details to the case against the political power broker. Near North itself is also under investigation. Segal wanted the court filing kept secret, but a federal judge refused Thursday. The feds contend Segal plundered a company trust account, earmarked for customers' insurance premiums, of more than $20 million for business, personal and political expenditures ... The list of Near North employees includes a former right-hand man to Segal; Segal's two adult children, Jonathan and Robin Segal; and a longtime former accountant at the firm, who is believed to be cooperating with the feds."

Supreme Court reprimands judge,
Orlando Sentinel, April 15, 2003
"Broward Circuit Judge Sheldon M. Schapiro, notorious among lawyers for using a push-button prop that sounds like a flushing toilet and scolding them in a back room known as 'the woodshed,' will receive a public reprimand next month from the Florida Supreme Court. The Judicial Qualifications Commission, which monitors the conduct of state judges, recommended disciplinary action after investigating complaints from local attorneys. The judge admitted 'engaging in inappropriate behavior,' the Supreme Court said in an eight-page opinion handed down Thursday. Such behavior is 'unbecoming a member of the judiciary, brings the judiciary into disrepute, and impairs the citizens' confidence' in the bench, the court said. The reprimand is less severe than other disciplinary action Schapiro faced, including removal from the bench. 'Were it not for Judge Schapiro's efforts to participate in behavioral therapy, this Court could have sanctioned [him] in a substantially more severe manner,' the court found. If he doesn't continue with therapy and other terms of his reprimand, the court added, it 'will severely sanction Judge Schapiro's misconduct.' Schapiro, who has been on the bench for a decade, acknowledged his rude and intemperate behavior and agreed to seek counseling in a letter to the Supreme Court in November. He apologized to Broward County residents, expressed regret, and blamed his actions on stress and personal problems. Under terms of the reprimand, the Supreme Court also requires Schapiro to mail letters of personal apology to several lawyers he was accused of mistreating."

 

[The heads of both Global Crossing (Gary Winnick) and Loral Space and Communication (Bernard Schwartz) are also Jewish.]
Richard Perle Libel Watch, Week 9 What happened to Richard Perle's big, bad, libel stick?
By Jack Shafer, Salon.com, May 7, 2003
"Where, oh, where has Richard Perle put his big, bad, libel stick? In the middle of March, Perle informed the New York Sun of his intention to sue Seymour Hersh for libel over Hersh's March 17 New Yorker feature, which explored the conflicts of interest posed by Perle's business dealings and his chairmanship of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. Now, as we reach Week 9 of the Richard Perle Libel Watch, it's more evident than ever that Perle was just trash-talking ... The New York Times came first with a similar conflict-of-interest investigation, asking Nosy Parker questions about Perle's advisory work for the bankrupt telecom company Global Crossing. Global Crossing had paid Perle a consulting fee of $125,000 to help it persuade the Pentagon and the FBI to allow a Hong Kong enterprise with close ties to the Chinese government to acquire it. The Times found it a tad unseemly that Perle might be simultaneously advising the Pentagon (for nuthin') and a company that was trying get around the Pentagon (for $125,000, and a $600,000 bonus if the deal went through). Following the Times revelation, Perle retreated to the corner of the ring. Saying that he was innocent of all conflict-of-interest charges, Perle resigned the DPB chairmanship, claiming that he didn't want the hubbub surrounding him to distract Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from the Iraq invasion. A couple of days later, the Times cuffed Perle again, retroactively, for having advised Loral Space & Communications during his time on the DPB. The government, you may recall, had accused Loral of improperly transferring rocket technology to the Chinese. Today's Los Angeles Times feeds yet another grief-burger to Perle. A Page One piece by Ken Silverstein and Chuck Neubauer documents how Perle received a classified North Korea/Iraq briefing in February at the DPB from the Defense Intelligence Agency—and then three weeks later gave a briefing of his own at an investment seminar run by Goldman Sachs on how to profit from possible conflicts with those two countries. Perle, you may recall, is a principal in the venture capital firm Trireme, which invests in the technology, security, and defense businesses. Silverstein and Neubauer find, as Hersh and the New York Times did before, that Perle's private consulting and investment machinations overlap with his DPB duties in a non-kosher manner."

SEE ALSO: Monica Lewinsky, Dick Morris, Barney Frank, et al, in the
CRIME-SEX/PORNOGRAPHY section.