As the Trump administration widens its crackdown on unauthorized leaks to the press, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has promoted a diplomat who provided classified information to an influential pro-Israel lobbying organization that resulted in espionage charges.
David Satterfield, a long time Middle East hand with extensive experience in the region, has been named acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, a State Department official told BuzzFeed News.
In 2005, federal prosecutors said Satterfield provided classified national security secrets to a top lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful special interest group known simply as AIPAC. The accusation was included in an indictment that charged two former AIPAC employees, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, and a former Pentagon official, Lawrence Franklin, under the Espionage Act with illegally trafficking in classified information.
Satterfield avoided prosecution in the case after top State Department officials argued to the FBI that Satterfield had acted within his authority in sharing the information.
Franklin pleaded guilty to espionage-related charges in 2006, and prosecutors dropped the case against Rosen and Weissman in 2009.
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