Jonathan Pollard's Notes To His Attorney on Senator Lieberman

April 28, 2000 - Justice4JP Release

The following letter and addendum were written by Jonathan Pollard to his attorney Larry Dub in early 1999 regarding the efforts of Senator Joseph Lieberman to undermine Pollard's bid for executive clemency.

The effect of Lieberman's anti-Pollard stance has again become news recently in the context of Hillary Clinton's candidacy for New York Senate. Mrs. Clinton routinely cites Lieberman's opposition to Pollard's release as the justification for her own refusal to take a position, even though she readily acknowledges the judicial inequities of the case.

When Lieberman was challenged by NY Assemblyman Sam Colman to explain his position, it was revealed that Lieberman's opposition is essentially nothing more than politically-driven rhetoric. [Details are on the Lieberman Page]

Jonathan's notes to his attorney follow:

Dear Larry,

RE: Recent media about Senator Joseph Lieberman's influence on my case including:

• Lieberman signs letter against clemency for Pollard

  
  [Feb. 5, 1999 - David Bilmes - Connecticut Jewish Ledger]

• The "Lieberman Letter" to Clinton from 60 Senators

Further to our discussion, when you read the above documents (copies attached) please bear in mind the following points:

Lieberman claims to have been privy to new secret information on my case. First of all, Lieberman has no idea whether the so-called "information" he was shown - presumably by the CIA - was the same as the material involved with my indictment. Certainly, if you look at the VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT's description of my crime (see Dovid Zwiebel's treatment of this matter on the Web ), there is not even a hint of such monstrous damage to the national security!

Second, please bear in mind that my indictment does NOT reflect a level of damage or compromise suggested by the latest leaks from the CIA. After all, if I had been guilty of such damage, the government had the option of indicting me for intending to harm the country. They didn't.

As you know, there is some classified material that is so sensitive that if it's compromised major damage could result to the national security. Even if a spy has the loftiest of motives, and the country he gives the material to is the closest of allies, the law indicates that if the material is so sensitive, he should have known that its compromise could harm the national security. In this instance he could, and should, be indicted with the prong of the Espionage Statute stipulating "intentional harm". AND I WAS NOT

Third, what gives Lieberman the right to see classified material that is currently being withheld from my lawyers? A need-to-know? Why? Does his need supercede my constitutional right to see the so-called "evidence" being used against me?

As far as I am concerned, Lieberman's access to this material, in a way, implicates him in an obstruction of justice. After all, he is knowingly participating in an unconstitutional denial of my due process rights...

Finally, if what I did was so bad, and if Israel was so criminal in her mishandling of the material I allegedly gave her, why hasn't Senator Lieberman now moved for a termination of all U.S. intelligence-sharing with Israel?

(signed)
Jonathan

Addendum to the Lieberman Notes for Larry from Jonathan

Larry, it should also be clear that the sense of the Senate letter Lieberman signed along with 60 of his colleagues is a potential arrow aimed at the heart of the U.S.- Israel special relationship. Indeed, the portrayal of Israel as a manipulative foreign power pressuring the U.S. into doing something against her best interests is a canard that our worst enemies have been trying to promote in the American media for years. And now we have none other than Senator Joseph Lieberman endorsing this malignant representation of the Jewish State.

When all is said and done, what I really find distressing about Lieberman's decision is that his strenuous defense of the President's right to due process and fair play hasn't been paralleled by a comparable defense of my own right to these guarantees. In fact, my current "trial" in the media only serves to underscore the disconnect between our constitutional rights of due process and the reality of my mistreatment by both the courts and our morally corrupt political system.

What this really demonstrates is Senator Lieberman's inability to separate his political ambitions from his duty and obligation to defend a fellow citizen against prosecutorial misconduct. The fact that he is a self-proclaimed "orthodox Jew" just makes his behavior in this matter more reprehensible. Instead of wrapping himself in the mantel of Torah, he has wrapped himself in the American flag, hoping thereby to reaffirm his patriotic credentials and to distance himself from me and from the dreaded "disease" of dual loyalty ...

(signed)
Jonathan