Just breaking tonight…

CNN:

The FBI has evidence that a person who has been working at high levels in the Pentagon may be a spy for Israel, a senior official confirmed to CNN on Friday.

The suspect could have been in a position to influence Bush administration policy toward Iran and Iraq, the senior official said.

WaPo:

The FBI is investigating whether an aide to the Pentagon’s No. 3 official acted as a spy for Israel, giving the Jewish state classified materials about secret White House deliberations on Iran, two federal law enforcement officials said Friday.

No arrests have been made, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

The officials refused to identify the Pentagon employee who is under investigation, but said the person works in the office of Douglas J. Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon.

Updates:

Bloomberg News: Israel Denies Receiving Information From Pentagon Official:

“We categorically deny these allegations,” Israeli embassy spokesman David Siegel said in an interview. “They are completely false and outrageous.”

It looks like Lesely Stahl at CBS is the one who broke the story and has the most detailed report:

60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports the FBI believes it has “solid” evidence that the suspected mole supplied Israel with classified materials that include secret White House policy deliberations on Iran.

At the heart of the investigation are two people who work at The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

The FBI investigation, headed up by Dave Szady, has involved wiretaps, undercover surveillance and photography that CBS News was told document the passing of classified information from the mole, to the men at AIPAC, and on to the Israelis.

A reader just sent me these points transcribed from Stahl’s report:

• The alleged spy works within the office of the Secretary of Defense.

• He/she supplied Israel with classified materials that include secret White House policy deliberations on Iran.

• He/she passed classified information to two men who work at AIPAC who passed it to Israel.

• Is described as a trusted analyst at the Pentagon.

• Turned over a Presidential directive on US policy towards Iran while it was in the draft phase when US policy makers were still debating the policy.

• The analyst had ties to top Pentagopn officials Wolfowitz and Feith, and was assigned to a unit with the Defense Dept, wher he was helping develop the Pentagon’s Iraq policy.

Apparently this happened a while ago, but it’s just being reported today.

(AM Update)

From the NY Times:

In a statement released Friday night, the Pentagon said that the Department of Defense “has been cooperating fully with the Department of Justice on this matter for an extended period of time.”

“The investigation involves a single individual at D.O.D. at the desk officer level, who was not in a position to have significant influence over U.S. policy,” the statement continued. “Nor could a foreign power be in a position to influence U.S. policy through this individual. To the best of D.O.D.’s knowledge, the investigation does not target any other D.O.D. individuals.”

One United States official said that he did not know why the desk officer would have passed on the information and that he could not assess the potential damage. “He had a certain expertise and had access to things, but he wasn’t a policymaker,” the official said.

So far, there is no report as to who leaked the information, nor has anyone yet questioned the timing of the leak.