A congressman entered into the Congressional Record two articles slamming the Bush administration for its prosecution of two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Addressing the U.S. House of Representatives on May 9, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) cited the opinion articles, by Nat Hentoff of the Washington Times and David Wise of the Los Angeles Times, to underscore his criticism of what he said was the Bush administration’s effort to censor journalists. Wise and Hentoff cite the case against Steve Rosen, AIPAC’s former foreign policy director, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst as indicative of an attempt to create an official secrets act through backdoor channels. The case against Rosen and Weissman is based on the unprecedented use of a 1917 statute that criticizes the receipt of classified information. Critics say the statute does not withstand constitutional scrutiny.
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