Robin Raphel, the veteran American diplomat, who is under FBI investigation, is suspected of taking classified information home from the State Department, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing government officials, the newspaper said counter-intelligence agents have searched the house and office of the diplomat for evidence. The officials said that after the FBI searches, Raphel was put on leave and her contract was allowed to expire.
The nature of the investigation is unclear, but officials, according to the Times, said the FBI was trying to determine why Raphel apparently brought classified information home, and whether she had passed, or was planning to pass, the information to a foreign government.
FBI counterintelligence agents have a broad mandate – including tracking foreign spies inside the United States, investigating American citizens suspected of spying for other nations, and examining the mishandling of classified information.
The newspaper said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, did not give details about why they were examining Raphel’s activities. Nor did they say whether she was officially a target of the investigation.
“It is extremely rare for the FBI to open a counterintelligence investigation into such a prominent Washington figure,” the Times said. Any decision by the Justice Department to open the inquiry would have had to take into account that an investigation – whatever its outcome – will have a lasting impact on Raphel’s ability in the future to operate within American diplomatic circles, it said.
Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement that the department was “cooperating with our law enforcement colleagues on this matter.” “Raphel’s appointment expired,” Psaki said. “She is no longer a department employee.”
Andrew Rice, a spokesman for Raphel, said that she had not been informed whether she was a target of the investigation, adding that “her nearly 40 years of public service at the highest levels of U.S. diplomacy speak for themselves.”
“I’m confident this will be resolved,” Rice said.
The Washington Post first reported the investigation on its website Thursday night.
She was Pakistani mole. She will sell Pakistan's case in front of US and will get billions of dollars worth aid to this terrorist beggar country and Pakistanis will give back a few millions to her out of the aid. Hand her upside down and than she will tell the truth. No sane person will ever support a terror country like Paksitan
Quit talking about Pakistan regards to Terrorism. Your crying does not suit your make believe status of Secular India. Stopping harassing your own citizen in regards to what religion they follow.
Comments are closed.