Stewart David Nozette is a very smart guy. Everyone says so. The astronomer holds a doctorate from MIT and a track record of scientific achievement with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the like.

But now he's in a world of hurt, accused of attempted espionage and facing a potential life sentence. This week, a federal judge tightened the screws by rejecting Nozette's plea to suppress the fruits of an Oct. 19 FBI search.

In a five-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the FBI's searches of Nozette's home, car and person were all fully justified, not least because of a highly detailed affidavit supplied by FBI Special Agent Leslie Martell. The affidavit is, in fact, an intriguing window into the world of counterintelligence.

The FBI stung Nozette with what Martell termed a "false flag" operation. Having grown suspicious of Nozette, an undercover FBI agent pretending to be an employee of Israel's Mossad spy agency called Nozette on Oct. 3, 2009. The men met in front of what Martell called "a major hotel" on Connecticut Avenue. They had lunch in the hotel restaurant, and then retired to a room. There, they allegedly discussed Nozette getting paid for providing Mossad with U.S. secrets.

"You want me to be a regular, continuing asset?" Nozette asked, according to the tape recording.

"Right," the undercover agent said.

"Which I'm willing to do," Nozette said, adding that "I don't get recruited by Mossad every day."

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