 The New York Daily News, August 18, 1996
Should Pollard
go free? by Joseph E. diGenova Joseph
E. diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the
District of Columbia, was lead prosecutor in the
Pollard case.  LAST
month, President Clinton rightly denied for
the second time the special constitutional favor of
clemency to convicted spy Jonathan Jay
Pollard. The reasons were the enormity of his
crime, his lack of remorse and the incalculable
damage he caused U.S. national security.
Pollard, a U.S. citizen and civilian
intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy. sought out
the Israelis after he decided unilaterally that the
United States was not sharing enough information
with the Israelis. In 1984, Pollard agreed to a
10-year plan of espionage against the U.S. for pay.
He was to receive $540,000 during the scheme. He supplied the Israelis with thousands of the
highest classified documents, satellite photos,
plans, technical information , systems analyses and
other information on U.S. and U.S. allies' defense
capabilities. He revealed our most sensitive
sources and methods data, threatening not only
technical intelligence but also our human
sources. Before he was caught, he gave his Israeli
handlers material that would have filled a room 10
feet by six feet by six feet. With his credentials,
he went from one classified library to another and
took literally suitcases full of raw documents from
there to his co-conspirators' safe house in
Northwest Washington, where they were duplicated
with special equipment. It was one of the largest
losses of classified information in U.S.
history. Eleven years after his arrest, the damage to
U.S. intelligence and national security persists at
enormous cost. Pollard's lack of
remorse has never wavered. After his 1985
arrest, Pollard told the FBI he'd "do it again
if given the chance." His then-wife, Anne
Pollard, told "60 Minutes" shortly before
her sentencing that they had "a moral
obligation" to do what they did in the spy case.
The Pollards had no regrets and were defiant in
justifying their espionage. There has never been any question of guilt.
Pollard and his wife pleaded guilty. And his
sentence, life with eligibility for parole in 10
years, was consistent with other sentences for
equally serious espionage, contrary to his
supports' claims. By rejecting Pollard's plea for clemency, the
president sent a strong message to U.S. government
employees that they cannot expect leniency if they
jeopardize national security by knowingly spying
for a foreign power, even an ally. Once information
is compromised, all control over its use is gone.
The receiving country's agenda determines its
ultimate use for barter or whatever purpose. Even
allies have goals adverse to ours. The United States expends enormous resources in
acquiring and building intelligence systems and
gathering intelligence overseas. People (Americans
and foreign nationals acting on our behalf) risk
their lives to get that information for our
protection. One individual cannot take it unto
himself to act independently believing he is better
able to decide what is in the U.S.'s best
interest. Pollard's case was not aided by the fact that
last year he was made an Israeli citizen. That
fueled fear inside the U.S. government that if
released now he would go there (as he has said he
wants to) and further damage our national security
due to his encyclopedic knowledge of intelligence
data and photographic memory. The Israelis never
returned the to the U.S. the material Pollard sold
to them, so he would be free to assist in its use
and exploitation. This concern was fed further by
Pollard's public statements in January
[1996] that Israel, by granting him
citizenship publicly, should "enter into serious
negotiations for my release." Clemency requires at minimum an honest,
forthright recognition that wrong has been done and
an expression of regret for the harm done. Not a
word of remorse nor hint of sorrow for what he has
done his country can be found in his
pronouncements. He believes what he did was justified and that
he responded to a higher duty in spying against his
country. So be it. The president also recognized
his higher duty and, instead of caving in to
political pressure almost always present in
clemency cases, denied Pollard's request. He is to
be commended. | 
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