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Issue Brief

September 26, 2000

Wen Ho Lee Goes Free:
Congress Begins Examining the Case

by Matthew Zimmerman
Project Coordinator, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program

On September 13, Wen Ho Lee was released after 9 months of confinement for allegedly downloading classified nuclear weapons data onto magnetic tapes.

Lee, formerly a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was indicted and jailed in December 1999 on 39 counts of violating the Atomic Energy Act and 20 counts of illegally retaining classified information. Lee, the only person ever charged with a crime under the Atomic Energy Act, was held in solitary confinement and without bail because senior government officials contended that he would otherwise pose a threat to national security. Until public outcry caused some loosening of the restrictions, Lee was compelled to wear shackles when not in his cell and had limited contact with his family.

Lee was freed through a plea bargain. Lee pled guilty to a single felony count of mishandling sensitive data, for which presiding US District Judge James A. Parker sentenced him to time served.

As part of the plea bargain, Lee must undergo three weeks of FBI debriefings so that investigators can determine exactly what happened to the information Lee downloaded.

In the wake of Lee's release, the Justice Department has come under fire for its handling of the case. Critics contend that the federal prosecutors threw the book at Lee without any actual evidence of espionage or intent to harm the US. As the months after Lee's indictment wore on, experts came forth to contest the prosecution's claims about the importance and accuracy of the data. In August, an FBI agent admitted giving false testimony about Lee at a December 1999 bail hearing. In addition, the severity of the charges and the conditions of Lee's confinement provoked outrage from many members of the scientific community.

Upon Lee's release, Judge Parker felt compelled to apologize to him. Stating that the government "embarrassed this entire nation," Parker said, "Dr. Lee, I tell you with great sadness that I was led astray by the executive branch of the government."Upon Lee's release, e ven President Clinton, in a surprisingly frank statement, said that, "it's very difficult to reconcile the two positions, that one day he's a terrible risk to the national security, and the next day they're making a plea agreement for an offense far more modest than what had been alleged."

This week, Congress began examining the case. On Tuesday, Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI Director Louis Freeh, U.S. Attorney Norman Bay, and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy T. J. Glauthier defended their actions before a joint hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee. Freeh testified that the top priority for federal investigators was to find out what happened to the sensitive data, rather than to punish Wen Ho Lee. However, Freeh offered extensive testimony detailing the case against Lee as justification for the charges that were pressed against him.

Issues for the Science Community

The Lee case raises a number of troubling issues for scientists.

• Was Lee targeted because of his race? Lee was born in Taiwan and is a naturalized US citizen.
  
  "Dr. Lee is not a hero, he is not an absent-minded professor, he is a felon," said Janet Reno on Tuesday. FBI Director Freeh also stated that Lee was targeted solely for his suspicious behavior. "Dr. Lee was prosecuted because of his actions, not because of his race," Freeh said. Asian American groups like the Committee of 100 contend, however, that Wen Ho Lee was the victim of racial profiling and anti-Chinese sentiment.
  
  
• How will the Wen Ho Lee case affect scientists working at national labs? Will it hurt performance or recruitment?
  
  The Lee case has thrown a spotlight onto a number of problems at the national labs. The Lee case is clearly bad for morale, and is likely to hurt recruitment of young scientists who will not want to put up with what seems to be excessive regulation, bureaucracy, and paranoia. This is especially true for professionals from ethnic minorities.
  
  
• Will the case make it more difficult for scientists to travel abroad and collaborate with their colleagues in other countries? And what about scientists and students who want to come work or study in the US?
  
  Regardless of the outcome of the case for Wen Ho Lee, policy decisions influenced by it have the potential to affect the lives of many people for a long time. A recent report from the National Commission on Terrorism recommends monitoring the activities of foreign students in the US, which could amount to profiling of particular nationalities. The fallout from the Wen Ho Lee case may make it more likely that such potentially restrictive and far-reaching policies may be implemented.
  
  
• What does this mean for the American public? What risks are posed by potentially compromising national security, and what risks are posed by taking potentially draconian measures to protect it?

These issues are likely to be taken up and considered in the coming weeks as America attempts to figure out what went wrong with the Wen Ho Lee case.

Check this page for continuing updates about the Wen Ho Lee case, and other developments affecting scientific freedom and national security.

Resources

Walter Pincus and David A. Vise, "U.S. Blunders Undermined Lee Case," Washington Post, September 24, 2000, page A01.

Vernon Loeb, "Physicist Freed, With Apology," Washington Post, September 14, 2000, page A01.

Remarks by the President on Patients' Bill of Rights, September 14, 2000.