The Justice Department may recommend leniency for convicted spy Jonathan Jay Pollard, administration officials say. But the White House said Thursday that President Clinton is not expected to make a decision on the case until after the holidays.
Pollard - who admitted spying for Israel - would not be released immediately, but Clinton would shorten his life sentence, said the officials, who are familiar with the deliberations but spoke Wednesday night on condition of anonymity.The Washington Post, which first reported the proposal in Thursday's editions, said it had been worked out by Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann, the Justice Department's No. 2 official.
In November 1995, Pollard will have spent 10 years in prison.
Clinton, asked about the Pollard case, said Wednesday that he would have an announcement "soon" on Pollard's fate. Spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said Clinton has not received the Justice Department recommendation, and he will not make a decision on the matter Thursday. "I don't think we're going to get it until after the first of the year," she said.
Pollard is a former U.S. naval intelligence analyst.