White House computers get FBI scrutiny

updated 3:01 a.m. ET Oct. 7, 2005

WASHINGTON - FBI agents examined computers in Vice President Dick Cheney’s office and talked to former and current White House aides Thursday as they investigated an FBI intelligence analyst accused of passing classified information to Filipino officials.

Meantime, former Philippine President Joseph Estrada acknowledged receiving an internal U.S. government report on the Philippines from the analyst, Leandro Aragoncillo, but played down the importance of the information, comparing it to material aired in his country’s media.

The FBI is looking at whether Aragoncillo, a former Marine, took classified information about the Philippines from the White House when he worked for Vice Presidents Al Gore and Cheney from 1999 to 2002.

The type of information has not been disclosed. Though Aragoncillo had top-secret clearance, that status would not have made him privy to highly sensitive intelligence.

Aragoncillo, a U.S. citizen originally from the Philippines, was charged last month with providing classified information from his FBI posting at Fort Monmouth, N.J., to former and current Philippine officials who oppose President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Philippine Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales said the criminal complaint against Aragoncillo suggests the information could have been intended to destabilize the Philippine government.

Michael Ray Aquino, a former top Philippine police official who acted as Aragoncillo’s alleged go-between, was indicted by a Newark, N.J., federal grand jury Thursday on charges of conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Aragoncillo, 46, of Woodbury, N.J., and Aquino, 39, living in Queens, N.Y., have been jailed since their arrests last month.

Federal prosecutors in Newark did not seek an indictment against Aragoncillo because he is negotiating a plea, court records show.

Plea deal rejected
Aquino lawyer Mark A. Berman said his client rejected a plea deal. “There’s a fundamental difference between Aragoncillo and Aquino,” Berman said. “Aquino is not an FBI agent and had no reason to know that the information the government laid out in the indictment was classified.”

While the criminal complaint is limited to Aragoncillo’s time at Fort Monmouth the investigation has widened to include his stint, while a Marine, in the vice president’s office. Agents examined computers and interviewed current and former vice presidential aides Thursday, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

FBI spokesman Rich Kolko would not confirm details of the investigation, but he said, “In the course of a logical investigation, the FBI will research the subject’s entire career for whenever he had access to classified or sensitive information to see whether any illegal or improper activity took place.”

Former president downplays matter
Meantime, Estrada said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in the Philippines that he received documents from Aragoncillo but that he did not think they contai     ned classified information.

“He was just describing how America sees the Philippines,” Estrada said. “I don’t think that is classified. It pertains to graft and corruption, the first gentleman (Arroyo’s husband).”

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