SALON

Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 12:01 PM UTC

The Israel lobby gone wild

AIPAC staffers looking at porn and cruising for sex on Craigslist, according to allegations in court filings

By

Topics: Israel, Washington, D.C., Craigslist, Pornography, War Room, Computers,

The Israel lobby gone wild

The latest shot in a long-running legal battle between AIPAC and Steven Rosen, a former top official at the pro-Israel group, reveals that AIPAC staffers regularly looked at Internet porn in the office, and that the married Rosen allegedly cruised for gay sex on Craigslist, according to new court filings. 

The Forward has the full back story here, but the basics are these: Former AIPAC official Steven Rosen was charged with espionage in 2005 for allegedly receiving and distributing classified information on U.S. policy toward Iran and other matters (the charges were later dropped). Soon after the charges were brought, AIPAC fired Rosen, with a spokesman saying that Rosen “did not comport with standards that AIPAC expects of all its employees.” In response, Rosen sued AIPAC for defamation.

Which brings us to the new, 260-page document filed by AIPAC in the case and first reported on by Grant Smith. In transcripts of a recent deposition of Rosen, a picture emerges of a frat-house atmosphere at AIPAC headquarters. “Q” here is an attorney for AIPAC, and “A” is Rosen.

Q How often would you browse for pornographic websites?

A I thought I answered that earlier. It varied a great deal. There were …

Q Daily?

A There were times where I viewed pornographic images daily. There were other times where I didn’t view them at all for long blocks of time.

Q And you know we have a copy of your hard drive, correct?

A I assumed it. I didn’t really know that.

Q And for how many years did you do this?

A That I really don’t know.

Q Did you do it in 2005?

A May well have. Don’t know.

Q Did you do it in 2004?

A Maybe. I don’t know.

Q 2003?

A I’ve already answered you that I have no recollection of the time periods.

Q When is the first time you viewed pornographic material using the company computers at work?

A I don’t know.

Q You have no idea?

A No. Mr. McCally, I have no idea. worked there 23 years. I really don’t know.

Q Number 30. “Request for admission: Admit that plaintiff Steven Rosen used his AIPAC computer to view pornographic images. Response: Admitted.”

How often did you view these pornographic images?

A Didn’t we just discuss that a moment ago?

Q No, that was browsing. You said sometimes daily.

A I’m sorry. I don’t know the difference between browse and view. What is the difference?

Q Browsing is surfing the web to find — you answered the question, sir, with the help of your attorney, I assume.

It goes on like that for a while (see Page 55 below). At one point Rosen remarks in his defense, ”I told you earlier, I witnessed Howard Kohr view — he’s the executive director — pornographic images on AIPAC computers. I witnessed his secretary do it repeatedly, and call people over to see it, including Howard Kohr. I witnessed other members of staff do it. And the Nielsen report you wouldn’t let me speak of before said 27 percent of American employees look at pornographic images on office computers. And to my knowledge that’s probably a good estimate at AIPAC too.”

(Rosen at one point also claims that Kohr ”routinely used locker room language every single day.”)

The putative purpose of the porn line of questioning was to establish that Rosen had not comported by AIPAC’s standards for employees. Less clear is why AIPAC’s attorney asked the married Rosen about his sexual encounters with men found on Craigslist. From Page 68:

Q If you had browsed the web for sexual encounters with gay men while at AIPAC , would that in your opinion be a violation of the computer usage policy at AIPAC?

A First, a technical correction. I actually sought married men like myself, not gay men, or I don’t know what you mean by the word “gay men,” but not men who were primarily living the life that’s referred to as the gay community and so on.

There are revelations of political interest in the documents, as well. As M.J. Rosenberg notes, Rosen reveals that “immediately upon being told by the FBI that he was in serious trouble, and being warned by AIPAC’s counsel to come immediately to his office and talk to no one in advance, he immediately ran to meet with the #2 at the Israeli embassy!”

We’ve posted the full document below. Shoot us an e-mail if you see anything of interest.

This is not over: Rosen told the Forward that he plans to inflict maximum embarrassment on AIPAC in his next filing.

11082010rosenvaipac

Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More Justin Elliott.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 73 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations