Larry Dub Responds to President's Legal Counsel

March 25, 1999

The White House, Washington, DC

Dear Mr. Ruff,

Your March 12, 1999 letter was received today. In it you indicate that you have received submissions from the government executive agencies regarding my client's case and you state that I may "provide my written views".

Mr. Ruff, it is deeply troubling that the President's review of my client's case continues with complete disregard for my client's due process rights and with gross insensitivity towards the Jewish community and the State of Israel.

Our office records show that you are in receipt of a number of letters in which we repeatedly requested the right to fully review the complete record of my client's case in order to prepare a proper submission. Our requests have been totally ignored.

As well, every request by Jewish community leaders to advocate for the release of Mr. Pollard with the President has been rebuffed. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations' recent request to meet with the President was summarily dismissed. Similar requests by such Jewish leaders as Eli Wiesel, Alan Dershowitz, and Edgar Bronfman were met with a resounding backhand. My own requests to meet with you have been ignored.

What is particularly disturbing to note though is that the President's review of my client's case was initiated as a direct result of the inappropriate behavior of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. It has been well-publicized that CIA chief George Tenet threatened the President in order to embarrass him into backing down on a commitment to free Mr. Pollard that he made as an integral part of the Wye Accords. Tenet claimed that freeing Mr. Pollard, who has now served over 14 years of a grossly disproportionate sentence, would demoralize the CIA and would undermine their efforts at deterrence.

Oddly enough, this same CIA chief has not uttered a word of protest over the inappropriately light sentence recently received by Chinese American spy Peter Lee. Lee's sentence - 1 year in a halfway house and no prison time - was meted out for giving China classified US laser technology, which now enables China to test and design nuclear warheads without detection. And not a peep out of Mr. Tenet about how this sentence makes a mockery of the notion of deterrence.

As a result of the disclosure of Chinese espionage, the Intelligence community is now desperately trying to stem security leaks in the national weapons labs. At the same, a blind eye has been turned to the virtual hemorrhage of classified information which has been leaked to the media by these same agencies about my client's case. The White House's failure to take steps to punish the government officials responsible implies tacit approval.

We would welcome the opportunity to participate in an honest review of the case.

However: a review that does not allow Mr. Pollard access to his file to rebut the lies and exaggerations it contains; a review that does not allow him the right to defend himself against the false accusations now being hurled at him in the media by government officials; a review that accepts without reservation the submissions of government agencies with vested interests; and a review that condones the selective leaking of classified information to serve political ends, is a sham.

If the President's review continues to disregard my client's right to equal justice under the law, an honest resolution of this case is not possible.