---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 20:45:35 +0100 From: Mario Profaca <mprofaca@reporters.net> Reply-To: spynews@yahoogroups.com To: "[Spy News]" <spynews@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [Spy News] Scientist Lee says data he copied were non-vital 'junk' http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/012/nation/Scientist_Lee_says_data_he_copi ed_were_non_vital_junk_+.shtml Scientist Lee says data he copied were non-vital 'junk' By Richard Benke, Associated Press, 1/12/2002 LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - In a new memoir, former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee says the nuclear ''crown jewels'' he was accused of mishandling were really the ''crown junk'' and were not vital to national security. The files he downloaded were old, with much of the information already public and very little of it classified, Lee says in ''My Country Versus Me,'' published by Hyperion. He says he copied the material onto tapes because he had lost files before and did not trust the computer system. He describes himself as a loyal ''Cold Warrior'' for the United States, yet says the FBI threatened him with execution if he did not confess to giving nuclear secrets to China. ''I want to share through this book how I fell into a trap,'' Lee says, ''one slippery step at a time, not even realizing what was happening until it was too late.'' Lee, a Taiwanese-born naturalized US citizen, was arrested in December 1999 and indicted on 59 felony counts alleging he transferred nuclear weapons information to portable computer tapes. He was held in solitary confinement for nine months, but never charged with spying. As the government's case crumbled, Lee pleaded guilty to a felony count of downloading sensitive material, and was set free. The mishandling of the case was an embarrassment for the FBI and the Justice Department. While Lee was behind bars, one senior scientist called the files ''the crown jewels.'' Lee says the downloaded tapes were all work-related, routine, and contained in a secure area at Los Alamos National Laboratory. ''In fact, the `crown jewels' are largely the crown junk,'' he says. ''This is the biggest nuclear weapons secret that LANL and the government have to hide.'' Lee says he copied the files - needed to design computer simulations for nuclear explosions - so he could have backup copies. ''In 1993, I lost several files as a result of a computer system conversion at the lab,'' he says. ''One of the codes I lost was about nuclear reactor safety. ... This was an important code, and it was gone.'' A call to the US attorney's office in Albuquerque yesterday was not immediately returned. Lee, who has been a US citizen since 1974 and spent 20 years doing top-secret work at the lab, is suing the government for defamation and claims he was targeted because he is ethnic Chinese. In a recent deposition made public yesterday, former energy secretary Bill Richardson said that ethnicity was not a factor in his firing of Lee or the decision to investigate him for possible security breaches. This story ran on page A2 of the Boston Globe on 1/12/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vf6MrB/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/TySplB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> =============================================================== SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to Mario's Cyberspace Station http://mprofaca.cro.net/mainmenu.html =============================================================== *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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