U.S. Space Researcher Arrested on Spy Charges

There are not a lot of details yet in the report of a top U.S. space researcher who was arrested in an FBI 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.

In exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and an Israeli passport, Mr. Nozette 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.

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Nozette, 52, 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, the Justice Department said.

National Archives Loses Sensitive Data

The National Archives lost a computer hard drive containing massive amounts of sensitive data from the Clinton administration, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and Secret Service and White House operating procedures, congressional officials said Tuesday.

One of former Vice President Al Gore’s three daughters is among those whose Social Security numbers were on the drive. Other information includes logs of events, social gatherings and political records.

The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation of the matter, according to Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and senior committee Republican Darrell Issa of California.

The lawmakers said they learned of the loss from the inspector general of the National Archives and Records Administration. The drive is missing from the Archives facility in College Park, Md., a Washington suburb. The drive was lost between October 2008 and March 2009 and contained 1 terabyte of data — enough material to fill millions of books.

Towns said he would have the FBI and inspector general brief committee members so they can “begin to understand the magnitude of the security breach and all of the steps being taken to recover the lost information.

“The committee will do everything possible to prevent compromising the integrity of the FBI’s criminal investigation while we fulfill our constitutional duty to investigate the compromised security protocols,” he said.

Issa called for the Archives acting director, Adrienne Thomas, to appear before a committee panel Thursday to “explain how such an outrageous breach of security happened.”

“This egregious breach raises significant questions regarding the effectiveness of the security protocols that are in place at the National Archives and Records Administration,” he said.

Issa said the hard drive was moved from a “secure” storage area to a workspace while it was in use. The inspector general explained that at least 100 badge-holders had access to the area where the hard drive was left unsecured.

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Biden Reveals Location of Secret VP Bunker

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.

Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine’s Washington contributing editor, said Biden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip the gathering.

According to the report, Biden “said a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment.”

Clift continued: “The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn’t be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall.”

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Obama To Get Top Secret CIA Briefing

President-elect Barack Obama will learn the full “burdens of office” tomorrow when he receives his first top secret briefing from the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell.

McConnell will be accompanied by the CIA’s top intelligence analyst, Michael Morel, the Director for Intelligence, and two senior CIA briefers, intelligence officials tell ABCNews.com.

Morel will take over the briefing responsibility for the President-elect through the transition after tomorrow’s initial session, officials say.

Top Obama advisers are eager to begin a strategic shift in counter-terrorism policy with a much greater focus and commitment of resources to going after al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani tribal region.

Officials say the President-elect will learn the CIA still has no specific information on the whereabouts of bin Laden but has a much better set of leads on the location of bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahari.

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Palmtop Computer Stolen From Open Window In M15 Hideout

A burglar who climbed into the property in Greater Manchester on Sunday night got away with the terminal which contained highly sensitive information about national security.

The house was being rented by the national intelligence service but the device was encrypted, so a security breach is thought unlikely.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “Shortly after 11.20pm police Sunday 28th September were called to a house in Greater Manchester, following reports of a burglary.

“An encrypted handheld computer was stolen. It is believed the offender entered through an open window. Inquiries are ongoing.”

He asked anyone who was offered the stolen property to hand it in to the nearest police station. Police sources told Times Online that it is believed to be an opportunistic rather than targeted burglary.
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