FBI Arrests U.S. Government Physicist in Sting Operation Involving Nuclear Secrets

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OCTOBER 20, 2009
Space Scientist Is Held as Spy
FBI Arrests U.S. Government Physicist in Sting Operation Involving Nuclear Secrets

* By EVAN PEREZ, Wall Street Journal, 10/19/09

WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. space researcher was arrested in a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting Monday and charged with attempting to spy for Israel.

Stewart Nozette, 52 years old, of Chevy Chase, Md., is a former government physicist who worked for agencies ranging from the Defense Department to the White House.
Spy

Getty Images - Stewart Nozette, center, was present at a Pentagon news briefing in December 1996, when he and Paul Spudis, left, both of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, discuss the discovery of water on the moon.

In exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and an Israeli passport, Mr. Nozette allegedly attempted to pass on U.S. top-secret nuclear and space secrets to an FBI agent who was posing as an Israeli intelligence operative, according to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in the case.

An attorney for Mr. Nozette didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment. Mr. Nozette is expected to make his first appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington. If convicted, Mr. Nozette faces up to life in prison.

Other alleged spy cases in recent years involving Israel include one that collapsed in May against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel group. U.S. officials said the Nozette case doesn't include allegations that Israel or its agents were involved.

The FBI affidavit doesn't explain how Mr. Nozette came to the attention of U.S. investigators. However, the affidavit describes Mr. Nozette's work over the past decade for an Israeli aerospace company that is wholly owned by the Israeli government. During a security search as he departed on a foreign trip in January, a security officer noted he was traveling with two small portable hard drives, which another government officer couldn't locate in a subsequent search as Mr. Nozette re-entered the U.S.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment.

"Those who would put our nation's defense secrets up for sale can expect to be vigorously prosecuted," said Channing D. Phillips, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

FBI wiretaps cited in the government affidavit quote Mr. Nozette telling the undercover federal agent that his former top-secret security clearances allowed him access to sensitive nuclear and intelligence secrets.

"I don't get recruited by Mossad every day. I knew this day would come," Mr. Nozette allegedly is heard on wiretaps telling the FBI agent, according to the affidavit.

The FBI agent arranged for Mr. Nozette to use a location previously set up -- a "dead-drop" -- at a post-office box in Washington, provided him a cellphone to send text messages, and set up an alias for use in his new Israeli identification documents, according to the affidavit. In a post-office box dead-drop last month, Mr. Nozette left a sealed manila envelope containing an encrypted portable hard drive, the affidavit says. The drive contained classified information on satellite programs supporting U.S. military and intelligence operations.

While the affidavit indicates that Mr. Nozette at first appeared suspicious about the espionage arrangements, it also relates how the undercover agent gained Mr. Nozette's trust and he is heard on a wiretap saying of the post-office drops: "that seems kind of Mossad-like." The FBI affidavit quotes Mr. Nozette offering to provide additional classified information on nuclear and other weapons systems, as well as military spacecraft or satellites. He explained that he would earn his keep, according to affidavit, because some of the information would have to be from memory, since he no longer has the necessary security clearances. "These are among the most sensitive subjects and it will have to be recreated from memory over some time," the FBI affidavit quotes him as saying.

Mr. Nozette, a Chicago native, was prominent in his field. He helped develop a radar experiment, now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, that is said to have detected water on the moon's south pole.

Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com