Pollard Attorneys Demand Retraction from National Public Radio

Justice4JPnews - June 10, 2007

This is the text of the letter sent by Jonathan's US attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman to NPR (National Public Radio) following a June 6 th a broadcast on NPR which was heard across the US, and which falsely indicated that Jonathan Pollard had been a KGB mole who spied for the Russians during the height of the Cold War and done damage to the US. Pollard's attorneys have demanded a retraction.

June 7, 2007
To: Mary Louise Kelly
Re: U.S. Official Russian Espionage at 'Cold War Levels' on "All Things Considered"
Dear Ms. Kelly,
We are pro bono counsel for Jonathan Pollard. We heard your June 6, 2007 report on Russian espionage. While stopping short of explicitly accusing Mr. Pollard of having spied for the KGB, your report unmistakably creates that erroneous impression. For example, Mr. Pollard is the first spy mentioned by name, just ahead of Robert Hanssen who in fact spied for the Soviet Union.
Mr. Pollard did not spy for the Soviet Union, nor any other enemy of the United States. Mr. Pollard's conduct was limited to providing classified information to Israel, a long-time ally of the United States. Mr. Pollard was never charged with intent to harm the United States. Yet your report misleadingly implied to your listeners that Mr. Pollard was a double agent who sold U.S. secrets to the KGB at the height of the Cold War. Nothing of the kind happened. Whether inadvertent or otherwise, your implication that Mr. Pollard spied for the KGB requires an immediate retraction, both on-air and on the NPR website.
Please contact us immediately to advise when and in what form a retraction will be publicized.
Sincerely, Eliot Lauer & Jacques Semmelman