David asks whether it is "strange that the government would offer Larry Franklin, a government official who actually leaked classified information, a plea agreement so that he would testify against two lobbyists who are accused of what would seem to be the lesser offense of knowingly receiving the classified information."

  I think it depends on the nature of the plea agreement, as well as any plea negotiations that might have gone on with the other two defendants. If the government sought out Franklin and offered him a sweet deal, and never approached the other two defendants with a plea offer, then it might indeed be strange. But it seems more likely to me that the prosecutors had a plea offer open to all three defendants, hoping that one of them would fold and testify against the other two; this would strengthen the government's case considerably. In that case, Franklin was just the first to take the deal, and there is nothing strange about him pleading guilty.