in the eye and say that this operation will hurt our enemies more than it hurts us. and so i will reluctantly vote no. reporter: in contrast, democratic supporters of the war kept a low profile and so did the democratic leadership. during the debate, neither nancy pelosi nor any other democratic house leader came forward to speak in favor of funding the war. for the most part, it was republicans that made the case for the obama administration s policy in afghanistan and gave the president the votes he needed to fund the war. jonathan karl, abc news, capitol hill. a young woman is under house arrest in texas, accused of trying to smuggle u.s. weapons into russia. anna fermanova was born in latvia but grew up in dallas. investigators say they found three night vision rifle sights in her luggage as she boarded a plane in new york headed for moscow. her attorney says she was taking them to her husband who works in russia. fermanova is now charged with smuggling but not espionage. pre
russia. just weeks after the biggest spy swap since the end of the cold war, the actions of a texas woman have federal officials taking an especially close look. wfaa s jason whitely reports. reporter: federal investigators have had their sights set on anna fermanova for months. a 24-year-old who lives in plano, now charged with attempting to export three expensive rifle scopes to russia. she s not russian. she s latvian. she came here as a political religious refugee, her family is jewish. they are very tight. there s no terrorism, there s no espionage, there s nothing. there s nothing like that. nor is the government saying there is. reporter: according to the arrest affidavit, fermanova got caught with three tactical rifle scopes in her luggage. they are night vision, expensive, up to $5,600 apiece. legal to buy in the united
states, but illegal to take them out of the country. sensitive technology. that s what the 24-year-old is charged with. the arrest warrant revealed that fermanova tried to use a black marker to rub out the i.d. numbers on the scopes to make them less noticeable. she told customs agents that she was taking the scopes to her husband who lives in russia. a family friend told us she was likely trying to make extra money. no one answered the door at her home tuesday. her attorney told us she and her family left latvia when anna was 9. she grew up in north texas, graduated high school here. but is out on bond now, facing the federal charge, passport revoked, and staying out of sight, believed to be in her parents plano home. jason whitely for abc news, plano, texas. the jury in the rod blagojevich corruption trial is set to begin deliberations today in chicago. in closing arguments prosecutors
our homeland security correspondent is jeanne meserve. i like that. another attractive spy. her name is anna fermanova. she tried to advance weapons sights to russia. they heard about her from a confidential informant and learned she was going to fly on march 1. they intercepted her luggage and found the sights. i.c.e. agents approached her. she told them she bought them on line, admitted to remove the markings, she knew they were illegal to export and she claims she was taking them to her husband in moscow. they cost between $6,000 and $7,000 apiece and it clearly says they re only to be sold to the military and law enforcement. they allowed her to take the flight without her scopes.