(5 votes, average: 5.20 out of 6)
Loading ...Stewart Nozette was born the year sputnik flew overhead and grew up watching the Apollo missions and wanting to be an astronaut. He studied hard, became an astrophysicist, graduated from MIT with a Ph.D and went to work for NASA and the Department of Energy. He eventually started his own consulting company, where he worked with Israeli space agencies as well as US interests.
It was his own greed that snared him when he began to falsify expense reports. According to Tom Diaz’s blog, he donated heavily to republican candidates. But in the end, he had no love for America- the country that allowed him to excel to his fullest potential. He is now in jail for trying to sell secrets to Israel.
From ABC Here:
52-year-old Stewart Nozette, was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information to an individual he believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer.
Stewart Nozette was arrested shortly after 4:00 p.m. at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington by counterespionage agents from the FBI’s Washington field office after he believed he was meeting with agents from the Mossad to pass information to them in exchange for money.
Nozette had been under investigation for some time involving his firm, the Alliance for Competitive Technology (ACT). In early January 2009 as he traveled overseas, a security check of his personal bags indicated he had two computer thumb drives in his possession; yet, when he returned on his trip, the drives were no longer in his possession.
According to Fox, after he was under suspicion by the Inspector General’s office for bogus expense reports, he told a coworker that he would defect to Israel and take all his information with him.
Prosecutors also quote an unnamed colleague of Nozette who said the scientist told him that if the U.S. government ever tried to put him in jail for an unrelated criminal offense, he would go to Israel or another foreign country and “tell them everything” he knows.
Undercover FBI agents left a letter in the designated post office box, asking Nozette to answer a list of questions about U.S. satellite information. The agents provided a $2,000 cash payment. Serial numbers of the bills were recorded.
—Sept. 16. Nozette was captured on videotape leaving a manila envelope in the post office box. The next day, agents retrieved the sealed envelope and found, among other things, a one-page document containing answers to the questions and an encrypted computer thumb drive.
One answer contained information classified as secret, which concerned capabilities of a prototype overhead collection system. Nozette allegedly offered to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems.
—Sept. 17. Agents left a second letter in the post office box with another list of questions about U.S. satellite information. The FBI also left a cash payment of $9,000. Nozette allegedly retrieved the questions and the money the same day.
—Oct. 1. Nozette was videotaped leaving a manila envelope in the post office box. FBI agents retrieved it and found a second set of answers. The responses contained information classified as both top secret and secret, on U.S. satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information, and major elements of defense strategy.
Nozette performed some of this research and development at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
This scumbag was exfiltrating secrets to what he thought was a foreign government. Hope he likes the color orange, ’cause he will be wearing that the rest of his life. Why don’t we execute traitors anymore?
(5.83 out of 6)
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8 people responded in this post
[...] asks the cogent question: “Why don’t we execute traitors [...]
Let’s not forget that traitor Robert Novak, who blew the cover of a CIA agent. Her relationship with the CIA was CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.
Treason as well. She should wear an orange jumpsuit for the rest of his life, too.
Oh, and don’t say that the info Novak released wasn’t important, so he’s not a traitor. The info that Nozette *attempted* to release (but DIDN’T) can’t be very secret, as he no longer had top secret clearance.
If you’re gonna shoot traitors, shoot ‘em all.
typo:
meant to say HE [Novak} should wear the orange jumpsuit for the rest of his life.
suzie,
Its not the same thing, and you know it. Valerie Plame was not a covert agent. And revealing her identity is not the same as selling nuke and satellite secrets to a foreign state.
And the information was indeed secret and top secret, regardless of his current clearance. You must not have read the article. He told the undercover agents that he could quote much of this information from memory. The information he turned over was verified to be secret and TS level.
Obviously the outing of Plame still hurts you very deeply. You’d think with the election of the ONE he would have made things better for you by now.
Sorry, Pat it sounds like you have a double standard regarding Plame.
I disagree with the death penalty, although shooting is probably only way because fast and military like in battle. Other ways are gross. If you do spying, make it for something you believe in and take pride in being a martyr. Our founding fathers were all traitors to Britain, and I’m glad we aren’t under them.
Suzie and Rako.. and maybe even Pat… Plame was not a “covert blonde” at the time that Novak “outed” her. Had that little diversion been anything approaching the realm of reality, then Novak would in fact be cooling his pen in the… ummm… well, pen… She wasn’t; it was all made up for the less than swift and amazingly it’s been brought up a—–gaaain. Gotta give it to the leftista’s; it worked (baa-a-a-a-a-a!)
As for this bufoon… He looks like the Perpetual Liar character from SNL (albeit, after a bad reaction from a bee sting). There’s no WAY that boob should’ve been cleared on that quick observation ALONE!!! And Stewwie, if you happen to come across this… PUT DOWN THE DOUGHNUT! YOU LOOK AWFUL!
Rako,
A couple of distinctions. The Plame affair was not a crime. Nozette committed really really bad crimes. No double standard since the two events are no where near close in comparison.
As far as founding fathers go, I agree what they did was a good thing. But there is a difference between being labeled a traitor when carrying out a revolution and selling secrets to the Israelis.
> But there is a difference between being labeled a traitor when carrying out a revolution …
Of course, if Britain had won the war, the founding fathers WOULD have been hung as traitors.
Although I’m not defending Nozette’s action, keep in mind that he *attempted)* to sell secrets to someone he who *wasn’t* a foreign agent. Not the same as, say, Robert Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Soviets for 22 years, His activities have been described as “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history”.
Where is he now? In a max security prison, but STILL BREATHING.
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