Ha'aretz's Nathan Guttman has more analysis of the six hour long FBI visit to AIPAC yesterday, in which four staff members received subpoenas to appear as witnesses before a federal grand jury:

The four subpoenaed witnesses deal with the day-to-day running of AIPAC, and it is expected that they will be asked to explain how the lobby group functions and its perception of the thin line between unofficial conversations with government officials and receiving classified information.

This is in effect the heart of the investigation that began three years ago. A number of officials behind the probe believe that AIPAC crosses the allowable limits and that it illegally receives secret information.

However, AIPAC officials contend, as do diplomats and other lobbyists in Washington, that this is a normal part of the ongoing contact, on an unofficial level, between lobbyists and U.S. government officials.

With this interesting conclusion:

Sources close to the investigation say it is unlikely that any AIPAC officials will be charged, and that the latest FBI foray into the lobby's offices signals a final attempt to gather information prior to ending the probe.

Time's Elaine Shannon came to a different conclusion yesterday:

Sources say prosecutors still have no plans to charge the AIPAC officials with whom Franklin was in contact. The objective of today’s searches, the sources say, is to attempt to find evidence that could bolster the case now being assembled by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va.

In other words, it's up to the grand jury.

Posted by Laura at December 2, 2004 07:20 PM