Federal judge drops FBI agent spy case (Fundraiser for Republican party)

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/24hour/nation/story/1980725p-10002300c.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge Thursday dismissed all charges against a Chinese-American woman accused of using a sexual affair with an FBI agent to gain unauthorized access to classified documents.

U.S. District Judge Florence Marie Cooper dismissed the case for prosecutorial misconduct, finding that the government had purposely made sure that Katrina Leung, a socialite with extensive China contacts, would not have access to her former lover, James J. Smith, for information regarding her case.

Smith, a former FBI agent, has pleaded guilty to a single count of making a false statement about the affair and agreed to cooperate with the government. He had been accused of mishandling classified material and allowing it to fall into Leung's hands. snip

Leung would have faced up to 14 years in prison had she been convicted of illegally copying and possessing national security papers that she intended to use, or could have used, to harm the interests of the United States.

more

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3005274.stm

'Double agent' freed on $2m bail

Thursday, 19 June, 2003

Katrina Leung, a US citizen accused of being a Chinese double agent, has had her bail set at $2m by a US federal court. snip

Mrs Leung, 49-years-old and a prominent Los Angeles socialite and fundraiser for the Republican Party, was considered a highly valuable source by the FBI and was paid $1.7m for her information over the years, court documents say.

But it is alleged that Mrs Leung was simultaneously passing information to the Chinese.

Prosecutors say she removed classified material from Mr Smith's briefcase when he visited her home, and passed the information to Chinese intelligence agents.

Mrs Leung faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts, while Mr Smith faces up to 40 years behind bars.

more

[Gloria]

1. Another one "slips through the cracks"....

eom

[alfredo]

2. I think I figured it out.

If we want to protect a forest, or stop a bad law, we will have to give a bunch of money to the Republican party. There is no such thing as treason as long as you show them the money.

[KittyWampus]

3. The FBI Agent She Was Fucking Is The Same One Who Investigated

Gore for his non-existent campaign issues with Buddhist monks.

[Erika]

4. If only the GOP sheeple would see

today's Republican party for what it is, corrupt and evil.

[NYC]

6. Small world, isn't it?

[DrBB]

9. Yup. IOKIYAR

IOKIYAR: It's OK If You're A Republican. It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

[realFedUp]

11. The US Attorney General's office is definitely protecting both of them

Dismissing criminal charges is highly suspect
in this judge's case, but more suspect in the
government's case.

Ms. Leung also, in contrast to Mr. Wen Ho Lee,
didn't serve time in prison, but was wore a
security bracelet inside her very nice mansion
in San Marino.

[Soopercali]

5. It's so hard to tell these days who's lying...

The judge, or the prosecutors?

[Buck Turgidson]

7. NYT: All Charges Are Dismissed in Spy Case Tied to F.B.I.

By JOHN M. BRODER and NICK MADIGAN
Published: January 7, 2005

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 - A federal judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a Chinese-American woman accused of using a long-running sexual relationship with a senior F.B.I. agent here to obtain national security documents.

The woman, Katrina Leung, a wealthy socialite from San Marino, a suburb of Los Angeles, had faced five criminal counts of unauthorized possession and copying of classified materials. The prosecutors said she removed the files from the briefcase of James J. Smith, a senior F.B.I. agent with whom Ms. Leung had an affair for 20 years.

The prosecutors said they stopped short of charging her with espionage because they could not prove that she had passed the documents to China.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/national/07spy.html

[DrBB]

8. Well, that's a relief. Now she can go back to GOP fundraising

...and spying for the Chinese fulltime, without a lot of pesky liberals looking over her shoulder and complicating things.

The point is not whom you're being corrupt with, after all, it's just that you have to be corrupt. Otherwise there's no place for you in the Banana Republican Party.

[realFedUp]

10. from LA Times today

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-katrina7jan07,1,4949975,print.story?coll=la-headlines-california

snip

But starting about 1990, prosecutors said, she began working for the Chinese as well, feeding sensitive, unauthorized information about the FBI to her handler at the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

Smith, who had an extramarital affair with Leung for two decades, learned about her activities but covered it up and continued to vouch for her reliability, he admitted in his plea deal.


(almost seems that the U.S. attorney's office wanted
this case thrown out)