F.B.I. Widens Investigation in New Jersey Espionage Case - New York Times

F.B.I. Widens Investigation in New Jersey Espionage Case - New York Times


October 6, 2005
F.B.I. Widens Investigation in New Jersey Espionage Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday it had expanded a New Jersey espionage investigation in an effort to determine whether one of its own agents, charged last month with spying for the Philippines, might have also had improper access to classified information while working in Vice President Dick Cheney's office several years ago.
The F.B.I. agent, Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, of Woodbury, N.J., an American citizen who was born in the Philippines, was charged Sept. 12 with passing classified information to government officials in Manila.
The charges filed against Mr. Aragoncillo relate only to classified information that officials say he took from F.B.I. computers after joining the agency in July 2004.
But the investigation is widening, officials said, in light of the fact that he had worked for several years prior to joining the agency as a marine in the vice president's office under both Al Gore and Mr. Cheney. Military aides usually hold security clearances.
ABC News reported Wednesday night that Mr. Aragoncillo was accused of stealing classified material from White House computers at the vice president's office, including information damaging to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
On Wednesday, government officials said they had no corroboration that any material had been taken from the vice president's office, but they acknowledged that investigators had been focusing on Mr. Aragoncillo's work at the White House.
The White House refused Wednesday to comment on the case. "It is an ongoing investigation and, as such, all questions should be directed to the F.B.I.," said Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman. Richard Kolko, an F.B.I. special agent, said, "We're going to do a full investigation of the entire time he had access to any classified or sensitive information, and in the course of the investigation, we will do all due diligence to determine if any other improper activity occurred."
Also charged in the case last month in New Jersey was a friend of Mr. Aragoncillo, Michael Ray Aquino, 39, of Queens, who was deputy director of the Philippines National Police under the government of the former president, Joseph Estrada.
The complaint accused Mr. Aragoncillo of passing copies of classified documents about the Philippines to Mr. Aquino between February and August of this year, after he joined the bureau.
Mr. Aquino was arrested in March on immigration charges for overstaying his visa. Investigators began looking at Mr. Aragoncillo after he sought to intervene on his friend's behalf and agents became suspicious, according to the complaint.
A search of F.B.I. computer records showed that Mr. Aragoncillo had conducted extensive keyword searches on agency computers for information related to the Philippines and had printed or downloaded 101 classified documents on the subject. More than three dozen documents were classified secret.
The classified documents that Mr. Aragoncillo is accused of passing center on political rivalries in Manila, according to court documents.
In recent weeks, the Philippine Daily Inquirer has published reports - apparently based on some of the leaked material - that discussed American assessments of the faltering support for President Arroyo's administration.
One such report said that the American embassy in Manila believed that factions in the Philippine military might be planning to move against her and that she might seek to use hard-core supporters outside the military to thwart a coup attempt.
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