Spacepionage

[FunkMonk]

I never post news articles; therefore...

U.S. Space Researcher Arrested on Spy Charges

By EVAN PEREZ

WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. space researcher was arrested in a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting Monday and charged with attempting to spy for Israel.

Stewart Nozette, 52 years old, of Chevy Chase, Md., is a former government physicist who worked for agencies ranging from the Defense Department to the White House.

In exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and an Israeli passport, Mr. Nozette attempted to pass on U.S. top secret nuclear and space secrets to an FBI agent who was posing as an Israeli intelligence operative, according to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in the case.

An attorney for Mr. Nozette didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment. Mr. Nozette is expected to make his first appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, where if convicted he could face a life sentence.

The case recalls other alleged spy cases in recent years involving Israel, including one that collapsed in May against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel group. U.S. officials said the Nozette case doesn't include allegations that Israel or its agents were involved.

The FBI affidavit doesn't explain how Mr. Nozette came to the attention of U.S. investigators. However, the affidavit describes Mr. Nozette's work over the past decade for an Israeli aerospace company that is wholly owned by the Israeli government. During a security search as he departed on a foreign trip in January, a security officer noted he was traveling with two small portable hard drives, which another government officer couldn't locate in a subsequent search as Mr. Nozette re-entered the U.S.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment.

"Those who would put our nation's defense secrets up for sale can expect to be vigorously prosecuted," said Channing D. Phillips, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

FBI wiretaps cited in the government affidavit quote Mr. Nozette telling the undercover federal agent that his former top secret security clearances allowed him access to sensitive nuclear and intelligence secrets.

"I don't get recruited by Mossad every day. I knew this day would come," Mr. Nozette allegedly is heard on wiretaps telling the FBI agent posing as an Israeli agent, according to the affidavit.

The FBI agent, using stock methods often found on the pages of John le Carré novels, arranged for Mr. Nozette to use "dead drops" at a post-office box in Washington, provided him a cellphone to send text messages, and set up an alias for use in his new Israeli identification documents, according to the affidavit.

In a post-office box dead drop last month, Mr. Nozette dropped off a sealed manila envelope containing an encrypted portable hard drive, the affidavit says. The drive contained classified information on satellite programs supporting U.S. military and intelligence operations.

Mr. Nozette, a Chicago native, was prominent in his field, working at government laboratories and research centers for decades. He helped develop a radar experiment, now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, that is said to have detected water on the moon's south pole.

America's lead in moon water detection must be maintained!

[CountDeMoney]

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment.

His Out-Of-Office reply on Outlook must've been forwarded to Beijing.

[FunkMonk]

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment.

His Out-Of-Office reply on Outlook must've been forwarded to Beijing.

He knew his day would come.

[jimmy olsen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9BPyWCKTg

[Martinus]

Stewart Nozette, 52 years old, of Chevy Chase

Spies like us?

[Neil]

You know, when Iran nukes Israel, it won't have been a minute too soon.

[Faeelin]

I have to wonder why we put up with shit like this from Israel. Any other country stealing our military secrets would be a grave threat, but I would be surprised if the State Department sends a strongly worded statement.

[Malthus]

I have to wonder why we put up with shit like this from Israel. Any other country stealing our military secrets would be a grave threat, but I would be surprised if the State Department sends a strongly worded statement.

Don't any of you actually read the article? 

[Faeelin]

I have to wonder why we put up with shit like this from Israel. Any other country stealing our military secrets would be a grave threat, but I would be surprised if the State Department sends a strongly worded statement.

Don't any of you actually read the article? 

The part where he was caught in a sting by an FBI agent pretending to be working for an Isareli company?

[Neil]

I have to wonder why we put up with shit like this from Israel. Any other country stealing our military secrets would be a grave threat, but I would be surprised if the State Department sends a strongly worded statement.

Don't any of you actually read the article? 

Most of us do.

[Malthus]

I have to wonder why we put up with shit like this from Israel. Any other country stealing our military secrets would be a grave threat, but I would be surprised if the State Department sends a strongly worded statement.

Don't any of you actually read the article? 

The part where he was caught in a sting by an FBI agent pretending to be working for an Isareli company?

Yeah, that part.

What part of that justifies a "strongly worded statement" to Israel? How would you word it? "We the State Department are really, really angry at you, because the FBI pretended to be from your country as bait for a sting"?

[grumbler]

Yeah, that part.

What part of that justifies a "strongly worded statement" to Israel? How would you word it? "We the State Department are really, really angry at you, because the FBI pretended to be from your country as bait for a sting"?

As i was reading this article, I knew what i was going to find in the Languish responses - a bunch of angry diatribes against Israel because an FBI agent successfully impersonated an Israeli.

I was correct, and as expected these diatribes came from The Usual Suspects.

[Admiral Yi]

  We should have the FBI pretend to be Iranian so we can have an excuse to bomb them.

In poor Faeelin's defense the missing disc drives does raise the possibility that he *was* passing secrets.

[Faeelin]

We should have the FBI pretend to be Iranian so we can have an excuse to bomb them.

In poor Faeelin's defense the missing disc drives does raise the possibility that he *was* passing secrets.

After Malthus pointed that out, I was going to apologize and retract my statement, but grumbler has goaded me into blaming the j00s.

[Admiral Yi]

After Malthus pointed that out, I was going to apologize and retract my statement, but grumbler has goaded me into blaming the j00s.

That'll happen.