U.S. Space Researcher Arrested on Spy Charges
October 19, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
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.
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.
MTA Considers Audio Surveillance On Trains, Buses
July 21, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
The Maryland Transit Administration is considering installing audio surveillance equipment on its buses and trains to record conversations of passengers and employees, according to a letter sent by the MTA’s top official to the state Attorney General’s Office.
The letter, reported by the Maryland Politics Watch blog, seeks legal guidance on whether installing such equipment would violate Maryland’s anti-wiretapping law. In his letter, MTA Administrator Paul J. Wiedefeld notes that the MTA already uses video cameras for security aboard its vehicles.
“As part of MTA’s ongoing efforts to deter criminal activity and mitigate other dangerous situations on board its vehicles, Agency management has considered adding audio recording equipment to the video recording technology now in use throughout its fleet,” Wiedefeld wrote.
