DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: POLITICAL FIRINGS, DEMOTIONS, RESIGNATIONS
SUBSECTION: ALL
Revised 8/20/99

 

William Sessions
All U.S. Attorney
Senior Los Alamos employees
Chris Emory
Travel Office
Various intelligence officers were forced to retire or resign.

 

The New York Post 12/27/98 ".Former CIA Director John Deutch made the mistake of saying that he thought previous missile strikes by the Clinton administration had left Saddam stronger than before. He was fired soon afterward."

Judicial Watch Press Release 1/15/99 Larry Klayman ".Linda Tripp testified Tuesday that she saw a document which proves conclusively that Hillary Rodham Clinton ordered the Travel Office firings. The revelation came during hostile questioning by an attorney for Williams & Connolly, the firm representing Mrs. Clinton in the $90 million Filegate civil lawsuit brought against her, the Clinton White House, the FBI, and others by Judicial Watch on behalf of those former Reagan and Bush staffers and others whose FBI files were illegally obtained and misused by the Clinton White House. Tripp testified that the "order" to fire the Travel Office staff was seen "in handwriting on a memo in Mrs. Clinton's hand signed HRC, which said, we need our people out, out underlined -- we need these people out, out underlined, we need our people in, in underlined, HRC." Ms. Tripp testified that the writing was on the upper-right hand corner of memo that had the names of the late Vince Foster and former White House Associate Counsel William Kennedy..."

Progressive Review 1/15/99 Sam Smith from Linda Tripp Deposition ".Q. My question is whether you recall any specific orders that Mrs. Clinton gave either of those two individuals? A I remember an order having to do with the firing of the Travel Office from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Foster, yes. Q What was that order? A In handwriting on a memo in Mrs. Clinton's hand signed HRC, which said, we need our people out, out underlined -- we need these people out, out underlined, we need our people in, in underlined, HRC."

Progressive Review 2/4/99 Sam Smith ".CHARLES LABELLA, the Justice Department prosecutor who headed a federal probe into President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election fund-raising and, along with the FBI, recommended an independent prosecutor. Attorney General Janet Reno, taking yet another dive in the scandals investigation, refused to follow his advice. LaBella has now told the Los Angeles Times he has decided to leave because Attorney General Janet Reno wants to replace him."

Progressive Review 2/4/99 Sam Smith ".MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ was a prosecutor on the staff of Kenneth Starr. His attempts to uncover the truth in the Foster death case were repeatedly foiled and he was the subject of planted stories undermining his credibility and implying that he was unstable. Rodriguez eventually resigned.."

Progressive Review 2/4/99 Sam Smith ".JEAN DUFFEY: Head of a joint federal-county drug task force in Arkansas. Her first instructions from her boss: "Jean, you are not to use the drug task force to investigate any public official." Duffey's work, however, led deep into the heart of the Dixie Mafia, including members of the Clinton machine. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that when she produced a star witness who could testify to Clinton's involvement with cocaine, the local prosecuting attorney, Dan Harmon issued a subpoena for all the task force records, including "the incriminating files on his own activities. If Duffey had complied it would have exposed 30 witnesses and her confidential informants to violent retributions. She refused." Harmon issued a warrant for her arrest and friendly cops told her that there was a $50,000 price on her head. She eventually fled to Texas. The once-untouchable Harmon was convicted in June 1997 of five counts of racketeering, extortion and drug dealing.."

Progressive Review 2/4/99 Sam Smith ". BILL DUNCAN: An IRS investigator in Arkansas who drafted some 30 federal indictments of Arkansas figures on money laundering and other charges. Clinton biographer Roger Morris quotes a source who reviewed the evidence: "Those indictments were a real slam dunk if there ever was one." The cases were suppressed, many in the name of "national security." Duncan was never called to testify. Other IRS agents and state police disavowed Duncan and turned on him. Said one source, "Somebody outside ordered it shut down and the walls went up." ."

Progressive Review 2/4/99 Sam Smith ".RUSSELL WELCH: An Arkansas state police detective working with Duncan. Welch developed a 35-volume, 3,000 page archive on drug and money laundering operations at Mena. His investigation was so compromised that a high state police official let one of the targets of the probe look through the investigative file. At one point, Welch was sprayed in the face with poison, later identified by the CDC as anthrax. He would write in his diary, "I feel like I live in Russia, waiting for the secret police to pounce down. A government has gotten out of control. Men find themselves in positions of power and suddenly crimes become legal." Welch is no longer with the state police.."

New York Times 3/06/99 Jeff Gerth "…While Richardson and other Energy Department officials praise Trulock's work and deny he has been mistreated, some in Congress suspect he has been demoted for helping the Cox Committee. Redmond, the CIA's former counterintelligence chief, who made his name by unmasking Soviet mole Aldrich Ames at the CIA, has no doubts about the significance of what Trulock uncovered. He said: "This was far more damaging to the national security than Aldrich Ames." …"

Associated Press 3/12/99 Laurie Kellman "…During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told Reno that her plan to replace Charles LaBella, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, created the "possible inference" that LaBella was passed over as a punishment. "The inference is plain wrong," Reno replied. "Chuck LaBella's disagreement with me had nothing to do with who the U.S. attorney is for the Southern District of California."… "When I left I didn't even get a 'thank-you for your services,"' LaBella told the San Diego Union-Tribune last month. "I think that crystallizes just how out of favor I was with the Justice Department." …"

Marshfield Mail 3/17/99 Jack Anderson Jan Moller "…It's no secret that first lady Hillary Clinton is a stickler for privacy. The Clintons had barely moved into the executive mansion when Hillary fired an usher for accepting a phone call from Barbara Bush. Later, she allegedly tried to shuffle the Secret Service detail after rumors appeared in the press depicting her as given to profane tirades and to hurling objects at her husband in anger…."

Wall Street Journal 3/25/99 "...It's no secret that the Clinton defense squads play hardball with their political opponents. But at least they get publicized. Less well attended to is the Administration's practice of trying to smother or smear internal government whistleblowers critical of its policies.... Everyone now knows about the Chinese espionage at the Los Alamos nuclear lab. Not nearly so widely known is that Notra Trulock, the Energy Department investigator who uncovered the espionage, says he was ordered not to tell Congress of his findings. Colleagues say he was also harassed and intimidated by superiors. Meanwhile, FBI officials tell us of agents who tried to warn the White House that some of the President's Arkansas buddies were engaged in shady business deals in China, then saw their careers derailed or sidelined. Of course, the most famous whistleblower of the Clinton era may be Jean Lewis, the investigator for the Resolution Trust Corp. who told Congress there was "a concerted effort to obstruct, hamper and manipulate" her probe of Madison Savings, the Arkansas S&L with links to the Clinton family. Her superiors removed her from the probe and placed her on administrative leave. A letter was pulled from her computer and leaked to smear her motives. And of course there are the Privacy Act violations against Kathleen Willey and Linda Tripp, both government employees...Senate Finance Chairman William Roth claims that several IRS employees who testified about abuses before his committee suffered reprisals. The Environmental Protection Agency has disciplined employees who speak out against its use of junk science....Last year, an administrative law judge ordered the EPA to pay one of its scientists, David Lewis, more than $100,000 after it falsely accused him of ethics violations over articles he had written criticizing the agency. This past September, a second judge found that the EPA had discriminated against him in denying him a promotion...... In 1996, the Immigration and Naturalization Service allowed Vice President Gore's office to pressure it into allowing 180,000 immigrants to become citizens before that year's election without having their criminal records checked. Some 11,000 of them had felony arrest records. Much of this could have been avoided if the Administration had heeded warnings from Neil Jacobs, an assistant director in the INS's Dallas office. Subpoenaed to testify before Congress, he reported in late 1996 that not one out of 10,000 people who became citizens in the Dallas area were referred to his office for a review of their criminal records. After his testimony, the INS tried to fire him for denying merit raises for three Hispanic agents and instead giving them $1,000 cash awards. It suspended him and moved him from his supervisory position, never mind that he had received a personal award from Vice President Gore for government efficiency. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board last month ordered the INS to reinstate Mr. Jacobs, saying an ongoing investigation "revealed reasonable grounds" that his whistleblowing had led to the decision to punish him..... "

 

Freeper SIT-REP 4/15/99 "...The same AP article revealed serious charges by Stephen Plitman, one of two OFAC agents resisting the shutdown of Leatherneck, who lost their jobs when their Treasury positions were abruptly discontinued. Plitman charged that his boss, Newcombe, met with several times and blatantly tipped off representatives of Mobil Oil, alerting them to the fact that the firm was under investigation for violating the Vietnam trade embargo. An inspector general's report showed that Newcombe even gave Mobil representatives a copy of a subpoena days before it was served to them. Solomon quoted Plitman from documents: "I was completely taken aback". He added that he considered Newcombe's actions to be "nothing less that a tipoff." The allegations of the improper meetings were supported by Secret Service logs and even the recollections of a Mobil representative, who admitted that Newcombe gave them a "passing heads up" on the OFAC probe during a limousine ride provided to Newcombe by the company.... Agent Plitman and is associate, Bob Sheridan's positions at OFAC were discontinued and they later ended up in Customs at lower pay grades. They are now the targets of an internal Treasury Department investigation into their charges against Newcombe -- an action which Mickey Downie descirbes as "Ongoing bureaucratic retaliation". The criminal element in the federal government have honed this method of crushing honest whistleblowers to an exact science. As Downie wryly notes, "When you've done something a few hundred times, you become very proficient at it".

Southeastern Legal Foundation 3/23/99 "…The Southeastern Legal Foundation is offering its legal services pro-bono to a top Department of Energy official whose attempts to expose the Chinese infiltration of Los Alamos national labs were nearly quashed by the Clinton Administration. Notra Trulock, the former Department of Energy chief of intelligence, was informed in early-1996 by senior officials at Los Alamos that the Chinese had organized an ongoing spy campaign which had stolen U.S. nuclear missile secrets. He briefed the Clinton Administration soon afterward. However, the administration took no action to eradicate the problem until Trulock testified to a special House committee late in 1998. "The campaign contributions, the White House coffees, the transfer of American missile technology, and the cozy relationship with the Chinese Army all follow a pattern," said Matthew Glavin, president of SLF. "It seems that President Clinton's 'engagement' with China has only resulted in placing our country's national security severely at risk. If Trulock had not addressed the House committee, this espionage may never have come to light."….Since testifying before the Cox committee, Trulock has been moved to acting deputy of the DOE intelligence office. The White House insists it had nothing to do with his demotion and supports his testimony. Glavin says SLF will investigate who ordered the demotion and what role, if any, Trulock's testimony played in the administrative decision…."

 

WorldNetDaily 4/15/99 Joseph Farah "...Three cheers for Joe Banister, the former special agent for the Internal Revenue Service, who actually went to the trouble to study the constitutionality of his employer, came to the conclusion it was illegal and had the nerve to confront his bosses. No surprise, Banister was given a few hours to clean out his desk. But the people who ought to be turned out of their jobs are the elected and unelected officials who have permitted this fraud to be perpetrated on the American people for so long. Think about it. You've seen the IRS literature (and I use that term loosely) that claims the filing of tax returns is "voluntary." If you believe that, just watch what happens when you forget to volunteer that return by April 15. All hell breaks loose. Your bank accounts can be seized. Some have even been thrown in jail..... Americans by birthright cannot be compelled to testify against themselves. Yet the IRS does just that every single day -- and today more than any other day of the year. Banister also contends, as others have, that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never ratified. And he points out that income taxes have been used to pay the interest on the national debt rather than for actual government operations...."

Washington Post 4/17/99 Stephen Barr "...A star witness at 1997 Senate hearings into taxpayer abuses by the Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that her managers moved to fire her, then quickly retreated after the agency's top brass and the Senate learned of the action. Jennifer Long, a Houston IRS agent, said she was called in from an audit on Thursday--the tax filing deadline for millions of Americans--and told she would be fired in 60 days if her job performance did not improve. Asked if she considered the firing threat to be retribution for her Senate testimony, Long said, "There is no question about it." Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), who held two sets of hearings on IRS abuses, and IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti said they would begin immediate investigations. The 13-page letter notifying her of "ongoing performance deficiencies" was withdrawn yesterday by Houston officials, Long said. Sources said at least one official was placed on administrative leave because of the action against Long. Long, a 16-year IRS agent, testified at the hearings that IRS managers made up evidence to show taxpayers owed more taxes than they reported and that they targeted low-income people without the resources to fight back. Prior to her testimony, Long received "fully successful" job ratings, but they dropped to failing marks after her testimony, the Finance Committee said. In Thursday's notice of possible dismissal, IRS manager Karie L. Gulley criticized how Long planned and scheduled work and the time she spent preparing for audits...."

Wall Street Journal 4/21/99 John Fialka "...The Engergy Department, already scrambling to address lapses that may have allowed China to obtain U.S. nuclear-weapons technology, faces a new security problem and has put its director of safeguards on administrative leave, pending an inquiry into charges that he disclosed government secrets. Edward McCallum, head of DOE's Office of Security and Safeguards, was quietly removed from his post Monday. The move, which DOE officials say is unrelated to the department's investigation of Chinese espionage, nevertheless is likely to deepen the agency's security crisis. Mr. McCallum functioned as one of DOE's internal critics. During most of the 1990s, he regularly wrote reports faulting agency budget cuts, saying they seriously weakened security forces assigned to protect weapons-related facilities and to screen foreign visitors. Brooke Anderson, a DOE spokeswoman, said Mr. McCallum's removal involved "a possible unauthorized disclosure of classified information." She wouldn't elaborate. While his case is under examination by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. McCallum will continue to receive full pay and benefits and hold his security clearance.... Mr. McCallum refused to comment on his case. Associates of the former Army Special Forces officer, however, found the charges hard to believe. "I can tell you this would certainly be out of character for him," said Maj. Gen. George L. McFadden, who retired from the DOE last year as director of security affairs. He was Mr. McCallum's boss. "He is a true professional as far as security is concerned. He is very, very tight with national security." Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a longtime critic of security problems at the DOE's nuclear-weapons facilities, asked for an immideate briefing on the case. "Retaliation is not unprecedented in the Department of Energy." ...."

USA Today 4/29/99 AP "...A number of Energy Department and national weapons laboratory officials face possible disciplinary action because a scientist was provided continued access to top nuclear secrets long after he became a target of an espionage investigation, government officials say. An internal Energy Department investigation of the scientist and possible theft of secrets by China at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is focusing on ''why was this man permitted access for so long,'' a senior official said Wednesday....Meanwhile, it was learned Wednesday that investigators for nearly two years were prevented from examining Lee's personal computer at Los Alamos because Los Alamos employees never had been put on formal notice that their computers were subject to search.... A search of Lee's computer was proposed as early as 1996, but both FBI and Justice Department lawyers said a warrant would be needed because the lab's computers did not contain warnings they were subject to search as government property, the officials said, and there was not enough hard evidence to get a warrant. When investigators finally examined Lee's computer after the scientist had been fired, they found the computer contained extensive files of top-secret weapons design and performance codes, although the computer was part of an unclassified system with wide access and could be used to send data in and out of the lab complex. The discovery of top-secret data in Lee's less secure computer is expected to raise new questions about why he was allowed to keep his security clearance and allowed continued access to some of the lab's most sensitive weapons data more than two years after he became a leading suspect in the alleged theft by China of information on a sophisticated nuclear warheads, the W-88, in the 1980s....Most of the files in Lee's computer had been transferred from Los Alamos' highly secure computer system in 1994-95, although evidence was found the Lee made some authorized transfers as early as 1983, an official said. He said there was no evidence that the files were accessed from outside the laboratory, but also no assurance that they were not...."

Washington Times 4/27/99 Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett II "...We now know the Berger National Security Council demoted the security officer who told them Chinese military spies had totally infiltrated our nuclear weapons labs. The Cox Report probably will have shocking information on the transfer of American military technology to PLA-related end-users in China, leading to speculation on more campaign contributions...."

Washington Times 4/27/99 Frank J. Gaffney Jr. "...Consider the following: * Information insecurity: On April 17, 1995, President Clinton lent his authority to an "openness" initiative championed by Mrs. O'Leary, the current White House chief of staff, John Podesta, and then-NSC staffer Morton Halperin with his signature of Executive Order 2958. This order called for the automatic declassification by April 17, 2000, of all documents containing historical information that are 25 years or older.... Leading senators were horrified to learn last year that Restricted Data (and "Formerly Restricted Data") governed by the Atomic Energy Act were being hastily thrown out with the bath water as officials were not being given the time or resources to declassify sensitive documents on a page-by-page basis. Instead, it had to be done by the box, if not by the shelf. Mr. Podesta, apparently infuriated at any interference with the declassification initiative, instructed Secretary Richardson to have Ms. Gottemoeller reprimand a senior DOE bureaucrat, Joseph Mahaley, for encouraging Congress to intervene. (The personnel action - which would, among other things, have denied Mr. Mahaley an expected performance bonus - was quietly withdrawn after he threatened legal action.)

Washington Times 4/27/99 Frank J. Gaffney Jr. "...First, Mrs. O'Leary banned personnel badges that clearly indicated whether the bearer had a security clearance and, if so, how high. Her reasoning: Such badges were discriminatory. And second, she ended the practice of requiring reports to DOE headquarters about foreign nationals from "sensitive countries" who visited the unclassified areas of the nation's nuclear weapons laboratories. Among those who has had the unenviable task of dealing with the deleterious consequences of this sort of security malpractice is Notra Trulock. Until the Cox committee's findings about Chinese espionage at Los Alamos came to light, Mr. Trulock was chief of intelligence at DOE. When his years of warning about the penetration of some of the United States' most sensitive facilities - warnings that were suppressed by, among other superiors, Rose Gottemoeller, to whom the intelligence office reported until a reorganization last fall - were publicly vindicated, Mr. Trulock was demoted and his future at the department seems in jeopardy..."

Washington Times 4/27/99 Frank J. Gaffney Jr. "... Just last week, Assistant Secretary Gottemoeller took another personnel action, this time against Edward McCallum, a retired Army colonel who until April 19 was head of DOE's Office of Security and Safeguards. In that capacity, he has worked tirelessly to call attention, including in unclassified official reports, to the dangerous decline in the security of critical sites in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Apparently panicked at the mounting evidence that Col. McCallum's heretofore unheeded alarms were becoming a serious embarrassment to the Department of Energy, Ms. Gottemoeller summarily effectively fired him. On the basis of transparently trumped up charges that Col. McCallum, of all people, was handling classified information indiscreetly, Ms. Gottemoeller has placed him in the bureaucratic equivalent of limbo - on indefinite, unappealable administrative leave with pay...."

The Center for Security Policy 4/26/99 No. 99-D 48 "...On 17 April 1995, President Clinton lent his authority to an "openness" initiative championed by Mrs. O'Leary, the current White House Chief of Staff, John Podesta, and then-NSC staffer Morton Halperin(3) with his signature of Executive Order 12958. This order called for the automatic declassification by 17 April 2000 of all documents containing historical information that are 25 years or older...... The practical effect of Executive Order 12958, however, has been greatly to abbreviate the time and necessarily to diminish the care with which classified documents are scrutinized prior to their release to the public. Leading Senators were horrified to learn last year that Restricted Data (and "Formerly Restricted Data") governed by the Atomic Energy Act were being hastily thrown out with the bath-water as officials were not being given the time or resources to declassify sensitive documents on a page-by-page basis.(4) Instead, it had to be done by the box, if not by the shelf. Mr. Podesta, apparently infuriated at any interference with the declassification initiative, instructed Secretary Richardson to have Ms. Gottemoeller reprimand a senior DOE bureaucrat, Joseph Mahaley, for encouraging Congress to intervene. (The personnel action -- which would, among other things, have denied Mr. Mahaley an expected performance bonus -- was quietly withdrawn after he threatened legal action.) ..."

The Center for Security Policy 4/26/99 No. 99-D 48 "...Among those who has had the unenviable task of dealing with the deleterious consequences of this sort of security malpractice is Notra Trulock. Until the Cox committee's findings about Chinese espionage at Los Alamos came to light, Mr. Trulock was Chief of Intelligence at DOE. When his years of warning about the penetration of some of the United States' most sensitive facilities -- warnings that were suppressed by, among other superiors, Rose Gottemoeller, to whom the intelligence office reported until a reorganization last Fall -- were publicly vindicated, Mr. Trulock was demoted and his future at the Department seems in jeopardy..... Just last week, Assistant Secretary Gottemoeller took another personnel action, this time against Edward McCallum, a retired Army colonel who heads DOE's Office of Security and Safeguards. In that capacity, he has worked tirelessly to call attention, including in unclassified official reports, to the dangerous decline in the security of critical sites in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Apparently panicked at the mounting evidence that Mr. McCallum's heretofore unheeded alarms were becoming a serious embarrassment to the Department of Energy, Ms. Gottemoeller summarily on 19 April effectively fired him. On the basis of transparently trumped up charges that Col. McCallum, of all people, was handling classified information indiscreetly, Ms. Gottemoeller has placed him in the bureaucratic equivalent of limbo -- on indefinite, unappealable administrative leave with pay.

Washington Weekly 5/2/99 RICKI MAGNUSSEN AND MARVIN LEE "...QUESTION: Are you concerned that the most significant revelations will be redacted before release? TIMPERLAKE: It doesn't matter, you can assume the worst! It's all over! The worst has already happened. You have to work the worst case scenario. The People's Republic of China now has every nuclear secret America has and that's a serious issue! It's not only how to build the bombs, how to test the bombs, what happens when you go down the wrong path, what is the right path, what gets you strategically more "bang for your buck." No, it's all over, truly. The worst has happened. Bill Clinton on his watch stifled investigations, stepped on individuals, his administration stepped on these individuals who were trying to do the right thing and save the world and--I don't mean to be overly dramatic--but to save the world from some very nasty countries having access to nuclear secrets and the individuals who stepped up were told not to talk to congress. They were basically told that they couldn't present their case, they were discredited, they were demoted and that's a serious charge...."

POLITICAL FIRING AND DEMOTIONS

New York Times Editorial 5/1/99 "...Jennifer Long, the Internal Revenue Service agent who nearly lost her job two weeks ago after publicly blowing the whistle on abuses at the agency, was rescued at the last minute by the intervention of an influential United States Senator. But the fact that her employers had no inhibitions about harassing her is clear evidence that the laws protecting whistle-blowers need to be strengthened. As they stand, these laws merely invite the kind of retaliation that Mrs. Long endured. A career tax auditor, Mrs. Long was the star witness at Senate Finance Committee hearings convened in 1997 by William Roth of Delaware to investigate complaints against the I.R.S. She was the only I.R.S witness who did not sit behind a curtain and use a voice-distortion device to hide her identity. She accused the agency of preying on weaker taxpayers and ignoring cheating by those with the resources to fight back. She has since said that she was subjected to petty harassments from the moment she arrived back at her district office in Houston. Then, on April 15 of this year, she was given what amounted to a termination notice, at which point Mr. Roth intervened with the I.R.S. commissioner and saved her job -- at least for now. Had he not intervened, Mrs. Long's only hope of vindication would have been the remedies provided by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and the Whistle-Blower Protection Act of 1989. These two statutes prescribe a tortuous and uncertain appeals process that in theory guarantees a whistle-blower free speech without fear of retaliation, but in practice is an exercise in frustration. Despite recent improvements, only a handful of Federal employees, out of some 1,500 who appealed in the last four years, have prevailed in rulings issued by the Government's administrative tribunal, the Merit System Protection Board. Overwhelmingly, the rest of the cases were screened out on technical grounds or were settled informally with token relief....."

Wall Street Journal 5/3/99 John J. Fialka "...House and Senate investigators are launching new inquiries into the Energy Department's $800 million security program and how it failed to stop the apparent compromise of many of the nation's most valuable nuclear-weapons secrets. ....The panel will hold hearings this week on the latest example of this seeming paradox: Edward McCallum, the Energy Department's top internal critic of security deficiencies, has been put on leave and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for allegedly leaking secret information. At the same time, Wen Ho Lee, the former Los Alamos nuclear-weapons scientist who allegedly transferred many of the nation's most sensitive nuclear-weapons codes to an unprotected computer between 1983 and 1995, is described by the FBI as being "unprosecutable." ...The Commerce Committee has threatened to subpoena 13 Energy Department officials who know about the investigation of Mr. McCallum, a 25-year department veteran who, among other things, has complained about difficulties in trying to protect the secret computer system at Los Alamos. The network of 2,000 computers is used to store digital models of nuclear tests that show, moment-to-moment, how nuclear weapons work. Committee members have invited Mr. McCallum to testify along with another department veteran, Glenn Podonsky, who runs internal inspections for the agency. While Republicans are leading the charge in the various congressional investigations, the two witnesses and others are expected to tell of foul-ups and budget shortfalls that date to the Carter administration. Energy Department reports show that Mr. Podonsky, as early as 1994, had identified the problem that researchers could transfer data from the secured computer system to the unprotected one..... David Tripp, Mr. McCallum's lawyer, said the information involved in the allegations against Mr. McCallum wasn't classified and that he is being punished for being "a pain in the neck" about exposing security problems. Rose Gottemoeller, the assistant energy secretary who removed Mr. McCallum from his job, denied that was the reason, calling Mr. McCallum "a valued security professional" who has made "major improvements." ...."

WorldNetDaily 4/15/99 Joseph Farah "...Three cheers for Joe Banister, the former special agent for the Internal Revenue Service, who actually went to the trouble to study the constitutionality of his employer, came to the conclusion it was illegal and had the nerve to confront his bosses. No surprise, Banister was given a few hours to clean out his desk. But the people who ought to be turned out of their jobs are the elected and unelected officials who have permitted this fraud to be perpetrated on the American people for so long. Think about it. You've seen the IRS literature (and I use that term loosely) that claims the filing of tax returns is "voluntary." If you believe that, just watch what happens when you forget to volunteer that return by April 15. All hell breaks loose. Your bank accounts can be seized. Some have even been thrown in jail. No, there's nothing voluntary about our federal tax system, though the fraud of voluntarism is perpetrated to get around some basic problems of constitutionality such as the little matter of self-incrimination...."

The New Australian No. 118, 5/10- 16/99 Peter Zhang "....The most frequent question is: "What was in it for China." Though I had raised the same question myself, it was only in a rhetorical sense as I thought, at least by now, that the answer was obvious. Clinton gave Beijing a free reign and a guarantee that its activities would not be interrupted during, what he quaintly calls, his "watch" so that China could clear out America's military and high-tech secrets. Simple..... His approach to power and people is truly medieval, minus the noblesse oblige. Given this fact, and his support in the media, it is not surprising that reports made out to Chinese intelligence suggested that Clinton would be favourably disposed to dealing with Chinese representatives - for a price. Intelligence assessments were supported by Clinton's action, shortly after entering (or is it soiling?) the Oval Office, in asking all US Attorneys to resign. This unprecedented and dictatorial move gave the Clinton administration control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the US. No need to tell you who was impressed by this breathtakingly brazen move. Why Clinton even tried to appoint Webster Hubbel to the post of Attorney General. Imagine where that would have led. But what struck a particular chord was the way the American media acquiesced to the Clintons' manoeuvres. Beijing does not underrate the power of the Western media, especially in America. That, with the exception of a few lone voices, it was prepared to collaborate with the Clintons gave further assurance to Beijing that Clinton was able to deliver. ..."

The New Australian No. 118, 5/10- 16/99 Peter Zhang "....But what of the CIA and the FBI, asked some readers? I have no wish to be patronising, but the naiveté of the American public is almost touching. It didn't even notice that William Sessions, FBI Director, a man noted for his integrity and opposition to political interference in the Bureau's affairs, was removed as quickly as Clinton moved into the Oval office. There is no doubt that Clinton deliberately acted to chain the CIA and the National Security Agency as well as the FBI. One method was to have Clinton supporters in sensitive positions so that they could delay, if not derail, any budding investigations into Clinton's China operations. With these bodies effectively neutered Chinese intelligence would have a field day. Now being ineffective does not mean uninformed. These agencies new very well what Chinese intelligence was up to but were largely powerless to do anything. After all, what could they do when the commander in chief, the president himself, had, by his actions, made it clear that investigations into China's spying activities were not to be implemented. Just to make sure that nothing embarrassing emerged, Clinton appointed Janet Reno to head the Justice Department with the intention of sabotaging any investigations into Chinese intelligence operations. I should point out at this stage that several Chinese officials let it drop that they believed Clinton was blackmailing Reno over certain activities concerning her personal life. Whatever the truth of the matter, Reno's role as the last of Clinton's gatekeepers, so to speak, has more than satisfied Beijing's expectations by thoroughly corrupting the Justice Department and blocking FBI requests...."

USA Today 5/19/99 Peter Eisler "...Between 1992 and 1996, according to agency records, annual security inspections performed at DOE sites by the evaluations office dropped from 13 to three. Moreover, a federal judge last month blasted officials who oversee that office for retaliation. The retaliatory acts reportedly included a forced, out-of-state transfer for an employee who went public with evidence that safety inspectors covered up problems at DOE facilities. "It's all the same people and I think they'll continue to fall back into the old ways," David Ridenour, former head of security at the Rocky Flats weapons plant, says of the agency's reforms. "If there's a problem, classify it, hide it and get rid of the people who brought it up."

USA Today 5/19/99 Peter Eisler "...But Richardson, a former New Mexico congressman, knows how to protect the agency on Capitol Hill. This month, he quietly derailed a Commerce Committee hearing on personnel disputes involving DOE security. In written testimony submitted for that hearing but never aired, McCallum, the DOE security chief, said he suffered "retaliation" for criticizing "lax security at the DOE laboratories." ..."

5/24/99 BBC News "...Pressure is mounting in Washington for resignations in the Clinton administration over allegations that China gained access to American nuclear secrets..... First in the firing line is Attorney General Janet Reno, who came under pressure from senior Republicans on Sunday to resign over her department's "indefensible" handling of the espionage allegations..... The potential scandal deepened on Sunday when a senior government official, Notra Trulock, said he had informed the White House three years ago that he was convinced China had spied on American nuclear facilities. Mr Trulock, who was intelligence director at the Department of Energy, said he was told not to give the information to Congress because it could be used to attack President Clinton's policy towards China. When he did testify, he was demoted...."

Gary Aldrich, President, The Patrick Henry Center 5/27/99 "... "While the FBI's webpage makes it a point to highlight the urgent threat that so-called domestic terrorists of the "Far Right" represent, a real enemy (Communist China) steals us blind, right under the FBI's noses, and in some cases, with their knowledge. "Thanks a lot for guarding your nation, FBI. "Thanks a lot for putting my kids and yours right back into a new cold war by being too afraid to face off with Bill Clinton and his lefty friends! You ignored me and my FBI partner when we warned you the Clinton White House was dangerous to our national security. "You even tried to punish us for doing our jobs - to protect national security! "Mr. Freeh: You tried to prosecute me for telling the people what I knew, and you forced my partner Dennis Sculimbrene into an early retirement. "Mr. Director, today your silence is deafening - and very damning! Why don't you tell the nation what you really know about the corrupt Clinton Administration? But the FBI is not the only agency that stands accused of failing to come to America's rescue. You can hang your heads in shame right along with all the other spineless bureaucrats who take up space and collect large salaries and cushy benefits! What is emerging from the wreckage of our once highly vaunted research and development labs is the obvious fact that this nation has been compromised beyond the imagination of any citizen - regardless of the level of his or her cynicism. Mr. Aldrich: "What is much more troubling to me is that the very people and institutions we created to prevent this unprecedented espionage - may have actually aided and abetted our enemies by standing by and watching it happen, while punishing and threatening those brave whistle blowers who tried to prevent it."..."

Fox News 5/26/99 Carl Cameron and Matt Gross "...A government ethics investigation has been launched into allegations that a Defense Department weapons expert faced reprisals from superiors for offering key testimony to the Cox Committee's investigation of Chinese espionage, Fox News has learned. Dr. Peter Leitner, a Pentagon technology analyst, testified in secret last August that Loral Space and Hughes Electronics had harmed national security by helping China improve its missile techonology. Within the DOD, Leitner had complained about the damage to national security for some time, and even before his Cox Committee appearance he told Fox News he'd been pressured to keep quiet and had been passed over for promotions. "I was castigated and told I was untrustworthy," Leitner said. Leitner's outspoken criticism of national security policy is nothing new. Last fall, he openly criticized a plan to merge the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) into the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)...Much of Leitner's criticisms of export-control policy have been borne out by the recently released Cox Report, which makes some of Leitner's points and provides recommendations for enhancing national security, including beefing up export controls. Discussions and arguments over how to implement those recommendations are already under way in the Capitol...."

Labella on NightLine Freeper kristinn reports 5/26/99 "...Labella says Reno not interested in his memo--her mind already made up. His report was ridiculed as "emotional". He was never debriefed on it by Justice. Says he managed to alienate the power establishment and was run out of town. Points to two phone messages, one right after the other. First is a "call me" message from Rep. Dan Burton. Second one is from a Justice Dept. official, "Don't talk to Burton." LaBella shipped out to San Diego, then passed over for appointment as U.S. Attorney. Questions raised about the motivations of nominator, Sen. Boxer about why she nominated LaBella's underling for the post...."

Labella on NightLine Freeper kristinn reports 5/26/99 "... LaBella says his instructions were to leave no stone unturned, follow every lead, resources will be provided. In response to Cox report, he says that his leads were followed to "foreign countries," took investigation as far as he could. Says portions of the report cannot be released because of 6e rules, release is up to Justice Dept. Says he doubts his 94 page report will ever be released. Says he will not break his oath to talk about the details. As a professional, he does not favor it's release, because of the free discussion by prosecutors. Personally, as a point of pride, he would like to see it released. Says plea deals by Huang, Trie, etc. are good developments for the task-force. Says he would encourage his daughter to come work in Washington and speak her mind and let the chips fall where they may...."

Labella on NightLine Freeper debo21 reports 5/26/99 "...This "Nightline" was EXTRAORDINARILY harsh on Janet Reno. This is especially significant, given that it was "Nightline" that bailed her copious butt out of the wringer, in the aftermath of Waco, when the nation wavered on the very edge of decency for some hours, while Clinton hid out (probably in that antechamber off the Oval Office, seeking relief of one sort or another), before we were all vigorously herded back into an appalling state of denial by the press establishment....Tonight, then, marked a sea-change: a radical departure from the usual, cooing and oohing, sycophantic treatment of Reno. It presented her almost as she really is--as we on the right have known her to be since 1993. It stopped just short of charging her with incompetence and corruption: and despite the mandatory shot at the GOP (Dole's campaign got illegal money, too!), it was incredibly hard on the president and the Veep, all but saying that if La Bella COULD talk, what he'd tell us would be that Yes, the Clinton administration WAS bought by Chinese money. Now, this will probably drop out of sight by morning, like all Koppel's sudden, quirky shots at the Clinton Regime always do--but brother, it was a break with tradition....."

Reuters 5/28/99 Tom Doggett "...The whistle-blower who first raised questions about Chinese spying at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities four years ago received a $10,000 check and the gratitude of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson at a ceremony on Friday. Richardson praised Notra Trulock, acting deputy director of intelligence at the Energy Department, as ``a man who was persistent and most importantly contributed to the national security of this country.'' A plaque that went along with the check described Trulock's difficulties in trying to get members of the Clinton administration and laboratory officials to take seriously his concerns that China was stealing U.S. nuclear secrets. ``You have displayed extraordinary analytical skills, persistence and have been undeterred in revealing the scope of the intelligence collection program of the People's Republic of China,'' the plaque said...."

THE Patrick Henry Center http://WWW.PatrickHenryCenter.Org Gary Aldrich 5/28/99 Freeper A Whitewater Researcher "..."...a real enemy (Communist China) steals us blind, right under the FBI's noses...with their knowledge...."Thanks a lot for guarding your nation, FBI...."Thanks a lot for putting my kids and yours right back into a new cold war by being too afraid to face off with Bill Clinton and his lefty friends!...we warned you the Clinton White House was dangerous to our national security...."You even tried to punish us for doing our jobs -- to protect national security!..."Mr. Freeh: You tried to prosecute me..."Mr. Director...Why don't you tell the nation what you really know about the corrupt Clinton Administration?...the FBI is not the only agency that stands accused of failing to come to America's rescue...Mr. Aldrich: "What is much more troubling to me is that the very people and institutions we created to prevent this unprecedented espionage - may have actually aided and abetted our enemies by standing by and watching it happen, while punishing and threatening those brave whistle blowers who tried to prevent it...."

Committee on Government Reform 6/1/99 Dan Burton "....I am deeply troubled by reports that the leadership at the Department of Energy would discourage an employee from informing Congress of security problems at the agency," Burton said. "One of the key findings of the bi-partisan Cox Report was that Congress was not adequately briefed on DOE security breaches and the unprecedented scale of espionage at DOE labs. It is disturbing to think that whistleblowers would have to fear for their jobs." During the 1990s, Mr. McCallum wrote several reports faulting agency budget cuts, saying they seriously weakened security forces assigned to protect weapons-related facilities and to screen foreign visitors. Mr. McCallum, who was placed on administrative leave in April, has claimed that within the last few weeks he has come under pressure not talk to Congress if he wants to continue working in the government...."

NewsMax.com 6/2/99 Inside Cover Kenneth Timmerman information "...The Rocky Flats security scandal may be the most damaging yet, since the cover-up is apparently still ongoing. ...According to Timmerman, "Richardson is now attempting to prevent a top DOE official in charge of safeguards and security from testifying before Congress. Why? Because that official, Edward J. McCallum, had made clear his intention to warn Congress and the public of devastating gaps in security procedures at nuclear storage sites such as Rocky Flats." Richardson already knows what McCallum has to say, since McCallum privately warned the Clinton administration last January about trouble at Rocky Flats. The consequences of the cover-up could be dramatic. "Terrorists could easily penetrate the facility and steal weapons grade plutonium, or construct and detonate a nuclear bomb on the site without DOE security teams being able to prevent it," reports the Spectator, based on what McCallum told Timmerman. It gets worse. McCallum was fired from his DOE post, or rather, "placed on adminstrative leave without pay" just last month. Bill Richardson personally gave the order to axe the whistleblower because he was "pissed off" at McCallum's attempts to inform Congress, according to what sources have told the Spectator. White House flaks may have a tough time spinning the Rocky Flats scandal for other reasons. Not only has the administration "repeatedly and obstinately" refused to correct the problem, but Mrs. O'Leary may be vulnerable to conflict of interest charges. Timmerman writes: "Under O'Leary's stewardship, Rocky Flats cut its security force by 40 percent, allowing prime contactor Kaiser-Hill LLC to improve its profit margin despite an overall reduction in the funds it received from DOE. Indeed, Kaiser Hill actually earned performance bonuses from DOE, because its cleanup operations were going ahead on schedule." Kaiser-Hill was apparently grateful for Mrs. O'Leary's indulgence, since she wound up on the board of ICF Kaiser, its parent company, upon her retirement from DOE. She remains on Kaiser's board today, while her husband does consulting work for the company....."

Center for Security Policy 6/1/99 No. 99-D 64 DECISION BRIEF "...Worse yet, one of the heads on the chopping block belongs to Ed McCallum -- an individual who has done more than practically anyone else at the Department of Energy to raise alarms about an environment that Richardson now acknowledges to be replete with "communications breakdowns...incompetent acts...[where] security was not considered important." Indeed, with Secretary Richardson's blessing, a senior official deeply implicated in the aforementioned insecurity practices -- Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nonproliferation and National Security Rose Gottemoeller(3) -- has already put McCallum, the Director of DOE's Office of Safeguards and Security, in bureaucratic limbo. On 19 April, she placed the retired Army lieutenant colonel on indefinite administrative leave (with pay) on the basis of what ten Members of Congress have described in a letter to Richardson as "trumped up and insupportable accusations that he has violated rules for handling classified information." On 26 May, these Congressmen -- among them, the Number 3 man in the House Republican leadership, Majority Whip Tom Delay -- correctly described Mr. McCallum as "one of the few high-ranking DOE employees who has vigorously striven to implement and enforce a safeguards policy for DOE and the National Laboratories." They declare that this conscientious public servant is being harshly "repaid for his unfashionable commitment and inconvenient effectiveness in doing his job" in exposing and counteracting "the systematic and flagrant disregard for security issues that has thrived in the highest levels of [DOE] for several years." Richardson's response to this letter was astoundingly contemptuous. According to the Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Rep. Dan Burton, the Secretary of Energy declared in a meeting with McCallum that the letter "doesn't intimidate me, this isn't [expletive deleted]. These guys are my basketball buddies." In a letter to Richardson dated May 28, Congressman Burton said the Secretary seemed to be suggesting that "you had the ability to dissuade Members of Congress who might be inclined to pursue matters brought to our attention by Mr. McCallum." ...."

Center for Security Policy 6/1/99 No. 99-D 64 DECISION BRIEF "...In the absence of a comparable public platform, Lt. Col. McCallum is suffering one indignity after another. In addition to having to retain a lawyer at his own considerable expense to defend himself against Richardson-Gottemoeller's "trumped-up" charges, he has been given an ultimatum: Accept banishment to a DOE facility in Albuquerque, acknowledge a security infraction and agree to have an official reprimand placed in his personnel file -- to put it mildly, a career-blighting deal -- or face unspecified, but dire, consequences. Even more Kafkaesque, Assistant Secretary Gottemoeller reportedly last week held a meeting in which she indicated that McCallum's Office of Safeguards and Security may lose 10% of its budget....To his credit, Chairman Burton last week served notice on Secretary Richardson that he intends to have Mr. McCallum testify before his committee in the near future. This hearing should not only put a spotlight on the witness' years of heretofore unrecognized efforts to protect the Nation's nuclear secrets. It should also make clear that substantial responsibility for the egregious insecurity at DOE facilities and the national laboratories in recent years rests with senior policy-makers -- whose disdain for time-tested physical, information and personnel security practices appears to rival Mr. Richardson's apparent contempt for Congress..."

Reuters 6/8/99 "...Pressure is building on U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to deliver on a promise to fire Department of Energy staff following the leak of secrets to China from the country's nuclear weapons laboratories. In late May, Richardson said in a television interview that firings and demotions were in order after allegations in a special congressional report of massive Chinese spying at national labs over the past 20 years. But whom Richardson should fire is the subject of rancorous debate on Capitol Hill...... "The administration is deplorable in that they are trying to find scapegoats. We are going to come down with a sledgehammer if they try to do this,'' said Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican and member of the House Select Committee on National Security, which issued the spy report. Lower level career employees were some of the so-called ''whistle blowers'' who warned higher level officials of security lapses, and should not be held accountable for decisions out of their control, Weldon said. The DOE said expectations for an announcement this week on the firings may be premature since Richardson has not yet made decisions on the issue........ "The DOE continues to promote and reward officials who have been responsible for safeguards and security problems, including the misleading of the president and Congress, while holding back the careers of those employees who have tried to improve safeguards and security ...'' according to the Jan. 28, 1986, Dingell letter to Reagan....."

Curt Weldon Website 6/8/99 "... Number three, Mr. Speaker. It was in the 1993-1994 time frame when an employee of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory who had retired was accused of releasing sensitive and classified information in a public setting. The Oakland office of the Department of Energy did an investigation of that employee and they found out, and in fact accused him of violating the requirements of security at our labs. What did they do? They penalized that retiree by removing the access he had to classified information even as a retiree. They took the appropriate steps. What did Hazel O'Leary do, Mr. Speaker? When that removal of that retiree's classified status was undertaken and when he appealed it, all the way up to the Secretary's office, Secretary O'Leary overruled the Oakland office of the Department of Energy and reinstated the employee's classification status. Every employee in every laboratory in America saw the signal being sent by this administration, `We don't need color-coded IDs, we don't need to have FBI background checks, and when employees give out classified information, we're not going to consider that a major issue.' ..."

Freepr Gary Aldrich reports 6/11/99 "...Lt Col Ed McCallum, a currently employed DOE employee sits at home, his experience and expertise wasted while Secretary Richardson plots to end his career. Mr. McCallum has been a thorn in the side to the Lefties who have tried to downscale security measures at DOE, and especially at the labs. He made a "pest" of himself trying to warn Congress and others that Hazel and others were on a sure course to destruction, and now his reward is to be the subject of an administrative inquiry, designed to get his clearance and thereby end his career. This kind of response to ethical dissent, or whistle blowing, has become a well known pattern of conduct for this White House. The Patrick Henry Center (who supports Mr. McCallum) now calls on members of congress on both sides who love their country, to end this assault on an honest, hardworking and brave patriot! I am told by Mr. McCallum's attorney that Ed will not cave, will not back down. He intends to fight. He will not accept a $10,000 payment in return for making nice with Mr. Richardson. We will support this brave man. I request that you contact your congressmen and senators and let them know that you want this assault on free speech - this attempt to silence Lt. Col. Ed McCallum - to stop immediately! My sources tell me that Richardson's many statements that "actions are taking place" to protect DOE security are hogwash, and that the real deal here is to reorganize to quietly punish or silence the ones who have been trying to blow the whistle...."

Media Monitor Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid 4/21/98 "...In our last commentary we told how Lt. Jerry Burns demonstrated his courage and commitment to the Navy by informing the Senate Armed Services Committee, via Elaine Donnelly's Center For Military Readiness, that the Navy had endangered lives by lowering the standards for female carrier pilots. One pilot, Lt. Kara Hultgreen had already died in an accident caused by pilot error. Burns believed that another was likely to suffer the same fate. He had warned his superiors to no avail. The squadron commander had told the instructors that the women would graduate regardless of their performance. Thanks to Burns' action in exposing this dangerous situation, Lt. Carey Lohrenz was dropped from carrier training. That may have saved her life, but she showed her gratitude by suing Jerry Burns and Elaine Donnelly. The top Navy brass and the Secretary of the Navy were equally unappreciative. It was recently revealed that Secretary John Dalton had sent Lt. Burns a letter censuring him for having released personal training records of another officer to a person who lacked authority to receive such records. ..."

Albuquerque Journal 6/13/99 Editorial "...And in the DOE and the Department of Defense, high officials reportedly sat on subordinates' information that would have lent credence to charges that China was prying secrets out of the United States and trading weapons know-how to other countries. A former deputy secretary of DOE tried to muzzle DOE counterintelligence officer Notra Trulock when he sought to apprise the secretary and members of Congress about lax security at Los Alamos, according to Trulock. The ex-deputy denies it. That wasn't the only such incident alleged. Writing on The Wall Street Journal editorial page, Michael Ledeen reports that two civilian Pentagon officials were ordered to keep to themselves concerns about deals to transfer militarily useful technology to China...."

United States Senate 6/25/99 Freeper AndyJackson "...Statement by U.S. Senators Jon Kyl, Pete Domenici, and Frank Murkowski We are increasingly concerned that bipartison efforts by Congress to implement the recommendations of President Clinton's Foreign intelligence Advisory Board regarding the security and management of our national weapons laboratories are being politicized and resisted by the Department of Energy at the expense of nationa1 security We can find no substantive explanation for the steadfast opposition of the Energy Secretary to these reforms; indeed, such opposition appears to validate the Rudman [PFIAB] Report's conclusion that the Department is "incapable of reforming itself." We hope that the report's documentation of an arrogant, turf- protecting, bureaucratic mind-set at the Department does not extend to the current debate over critically needed reorganization. These concerns are compounded by today's news that Assistant Energy Secretary Dr. Victor Ries who is responsible for the stewardship of the nations nuclear weapons stockpile is being forced out of the Department. We hope his forced resignation was not due to his candid assessment that the reforms currently being considered by Congress would improve his ability to fulfill his responsibilities - a position contrary to that of his boss, Secretary Bill Richardson. These concerns are further compounded by news of the meeting convened last night between Secretary Richiardson and the directors of the three nuc1ear laboratories, whose contracts Richiardson oversees. We are concerned that last night's meeting was called to twist the arms of the lab directors into supporting' the Secretary's increasingly isolated position at the expense of their professional analysis....."

Washington Weekly 6/28/99 Marvin Lee "...Last week the final twist in the Chinese penetration of the U.S. security apparatus was emphasized: the witch-hunt by the Clinton administration for anti-communist and anti-PLA employees within the administration. A hearing of the Burton Committee last week focused on how these anti-communists and anti-PLA national security officials were in a position to thwart Chinese espionage and technology acquisition and hence had to be stopped by the Clinton administration: Jonathan D. Fox, an attorney at the Defense Special Weapons Agency, was forced to rewrite a 1997 memorandum to change his conclusion that China was a nuclear arms "proliferator" to one in which China was deemed a "nonproliferator."....."

Albuquerque Journal 6/26/99 Patrick Armijo "...The Department of Energy official overseeing the nation's nuclear-weapons programs resigned Friday. The resignation stemmed chiefly from Dr. Victor Reis' differences with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson over reorganizing the department, according to a Clinton administration source familiar with the situation. Reis, the DOE's assistant secretary for defense programs, sent a letter of resignation Friday to President Clinton. As of July 30, Reis will end a six-year tenure as the nation's nuclear weapons chief and the executive in charge of more than 25,000 workers, including over 70 percent of contract employees at the nuclear weapons labs in New Mexico and California. "Number one, and what's been at the forefront recently, is Mr. Reis had a totally different view than the secretary on reorganization," said the administration source. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and other senators pushing for reorganization of the department referred to Reis "being forced out of the department." Reis' resignation letter specifies no reason for his departure. However, the Clinton administration source said Reis supported a proposal to create a new, semiautonomous agency within DOE, which would deal solely with nuclear weapons. Richardson has opposed the plans, advanced by Domenici and other Republican leaders, and also by a special presidential panel headed by former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H....."

Wall Street Journal 6/18/99 John Fialka "…While Department of Energy officials wring their hands over whom to fire because of the agency's clumsy role in handling the nation's most recent nuclear spy scandal, Robert "Bobby" Henson, a balding, round-faced physicist has quietly gotten his old job back. This is especially comforting to Mr. Henson because he discovered the scandal. In January 1995, after poring over new U.S. intelligence reports on China's bomb tests, he concluded that the Chinese had stolen design features from the W-88, America's newest and most radically different nuclear warhead… After his finding about Chinese espionage first rocked the secretive hallways of the nation's largest nuclear weapons laboratory here, Mr. Henson was fired: not once, but twice. Although he is a former hydrogen bomb designer and one of the nation's top analysts of China's nuclear program, Mr. Henson says he found himself delivering a message that nobody wanted to hear. A panel of experts here at first rejected it, concluding that China's bomb program must have come up with U.S. design features independently…The panel pressured Mr. Henson to agree. He resisted. "I told them they were absolutely nuts," he explains. He kept pushing the issue, but it was hard. "They [Los Alamos] wanted this thing to quiet down and go away," he says. By April 1995 he had won a convert, an intelligence expert named Larry Booth. They took their information to Notra Trulock, who then headed the Department of Energy's office of intelligence. Mr. Trulock was interested, but cautious. He wanted them to show their findings to John Richter, one of Los Alamos's most experienced weapons designers….."

Wall Street Journal 6/18/99 John Fialka "…Mr. Richter agreed that what Mr. Henson found was disturbing…. Mr. Richter, who has personally conducted over 40 nuclear tests -- about as many as China has held -- still fumes over "bureaucratic inertia" he found in Washington. "It's 'Don't tell me what's true, tell me what I want to hear,' " he grumbles. Mr. Trulock had the three scientists present their findings to a group of 20 experts, including weapons scientists from DOE's other weapons labs, and intelligence analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. …"

Wall Street Journal 6/18/99 John Fialka "…In October 1995, Mr. Henson was fired. He still thinks it was in retaliation, but Jim Danneskiold, a spokesman for the laboratory, says it was part of a "blanket policy" to reduce the work force at Los Alamos. Mr. Trulock, however, wanted Mr. Henson back: "He is an iconoclastic, out-of-the-box thinker. I viewed him then as I do now, as making critical contributions to our understanding of this problem." Mr. Trulock discovered that another weapons laboratory, Sandia, would hire Mr. Henson if it received money to cover the new position from Mr. Trulock's budget. Sandia, located in Albuquerque, assigned Mr. Henson back to his old job at Los Alamos…. He found that a spy had appeared at a U.S. Embassy in 1995 and delivered a 1988 nuclear planning document, written by Chinese military officials, that contained details of the W-88 that had never been made public. "That was the nail in the coffin," says Mr. Henson, who made the closely held CIA document available to the panel… A few months later, a Chinese weapons scientist gave a public lecture at Los Alamos explaining that the configuration of warheads he worked on had abruptly shifted from one design to another. Historically, the explosive core of most U.S. warheads has been spherical, but the W-88, designed for the Navy's newest submarine-launched missiles, is different. Los Alamos scientists took detailed notes, which were later decreed by the laboratory to be classified, according to Mr. Henson…."

Wall Street Journal 6/18/99 John Fialka "…By the fall of 1995, Charles Curtis, a former deputy secretary of energy, had already brought the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the case, based on a preview of the matter being debated before the Los Alamos panel, given him by Mr. Richter. By November 1995, the panel essentially agreed with Mr. Henson's contention that it was hard to believe that China, with a relatively tiny number of tests, had suddenly invented a weapon that had taken U.S. scientists years and many failed tests to design. The panel, given the secret code name "Kindred Spirit Analytical Group," concluded that it was likely that China had received outside help. Then the case shifted to Washington, where Mr. Trulock began a long and career-risking effort to convince the Clinton administration that serious espionage had occurred. He soon began to encounter what he later termed "blocking activities" within DOE's sprawling bureaucracy. He was sometimes not allowed to brief top officials and was forbidden to give briefings on the "Kindred Spirit" case to congressional committees. The intelligence office he headed was reorganized last May, and Mr. Trulock wound up in the No. 2 post. Still, that was minor compared to what happened to Mr. Henson. He was fired again in October 1996. Los Alamos said it violated laboratory rules to have Sandia funding him..."

Wall Street Journal 6/18/99 John Fialka "…It is well known that, in the end, Mr. Trulock triumphed in the China-spying episode. Congressional committees have praised him. He was recently awarded $10,000 by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson "for discovering the problem and for his persistence for pursuing the issue within the bureaucracy." As for Mr. Henson, the man who really discovered the problem, he also has had a moment of triumph -- sort of. He sued the University of California, which runs Los Alamos, for age discrimination in firing him. Last November the university agreed to give Mr. Henson $10,000 for legal costs and to help him get his old job back.…."

AP Wire 6/18/99 "…Lacking adequate records, congressional auditors could not substantiate claims made in high-profile Senate hearings that the IRS retaliated against whistleblowers and taxpayers, improperly changed some tax bills and gave preferential treatment to senior managers in disciplinary cases. The Republican senator who chaired last year's Finance Committee hearings, William Roth of Delaware, said the General Accounting Office report released today raises ``serious concern'' because the Internal Revenue Service did not keep adequate records in any of these areas. ``A lack of necessary information and systemic breakdowns in record-keeping and reporting procedures make it all but impossible to track and verify most of the cases'' referred by the committee, Roth said in a statement. The audit was requested by Roth after witnesses appearing before the Finance Committee made several allegations against the IRS, including: -The agency retaliated against employee whistleblowers and taxpayers who weren't viewed as cooperative. -Executives got preferential treatment in disciplinary cases, such as being allowed to retire before action was taken. -IRS agents reduced or eliminated some tax bills and increased others for reasons other than the merit of the case. -There was racial discrimination at the IRS Midwest District Office in Milwaukee, Wis. GAO auditors repeatedly cited ``limited and incomplete data'' for its inability to substantiate many of the claims…."

The Center For Security Policy 6/18/99 "…A further testament to Secretary Richardson's myopia on this point was brought home by his response to Sen. Rudman's frank description of his problem: In remarks the Los Angeles Times characterized as "combative," Richardson said that he "want[s] to see evidence from the malcontents [Rudman] has been talking to....I want to see evidence of where we are weak, where we have shortcomings. It seems there are a lot of anonymous sources here. I want to see the evidence of where we're not up to par." If Secretary Richardson and many of his senior political appointees (e.g., Under Secretary Ernie Moniz, Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller and Senior Policy Advisor for Nonproliferation and National Security Joan Rohfling) were not so busy taking job actions against personnel who are in a position to provide such information -- and otherwise creating an environment unfriendly to coming forward with unwelcome facts -- he would not have to look far for help. He could usefully start, for example, with Ed McCallum…."

The Center For Security Policy 6/18/99 "…McCallum is a retired Army special operations lieutenant colonel who was, until relieved of his duties over what ten Members of Congress believe are "trumped up charges,"(3) responsible for DoE's Office of Security and Safeguards. In that capacity, he provided abundant evidence of just the sort of ongoing, serious security problems Mr. Richardson claims to want to know about.

Apparently concerned about the sort of retribution Col. McCallum and others have experienced at DoE's hands, PFIAB had to promise anonymity to over 100 witnesses in order to secure their help in understanding the magnitude of the problem. If Secretary Richardson actually is interested in getting to the truth, and not solely concerned with obscuring it, he can establish policies and practices that would protect and reward those prepared to permit accountability and fixes to be achieved in the Department of Energy, at long last…."

Salon 6/21/99 David Horowitz "...Indeed, the government's awareness of many of the losses dates back several years, during which time the Clinton reaction was exactly the same: Continue on the destructive course. According to Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., a member of the Cox Committee, at least 15 government officials have experienced the wrath of the Clinton administration because they tried to protect America's secrets from being transferred to China. One notorious case was described in a recent Wall Street Journal article by a former security official, Michael Ledeen. According to documents obtained by Ledeen, a mid-level government arms control bureaucrat was asked in 1997 to provide a memo supporting the administration's certification that China was not a nuclear proliferator and could be provided with advanced technologies. This request was made on the eve of a visit from China's communist dictator, Jiang Zemin. The bureaucrat refused and wrote that the agreement the U.S. government was about to sign "presents real and substantial risk to the common defense and security of both the United States and allied countries." The official added that China was actively seeking American secrets and that "China routinely, both overtly and covertly, subverts national and multilateral trade controls on militarily critical items." This patriot was immediately told by his superiors to revise his memo or lose his job. Sadly, according to Ledeen, he complied with the order and rewrote the document to state that the proposed Clinton trade agreement "is not inimical to the common defense or the security of the United States." ..."

NewsMax.com 6/22/99 Carl of Oyster Bay "... In a report that appeared four weeks ago, that official, Edward McCallum, told the American Spectator's Kenneth Timmerman that security at Colorado's Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility had been drastically reduced as part of former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's "openess initiative". Beyond Inside Cover's June 2 report: "Hazel O'Leary's Rocky Flats Horror Show", press attention to the Timmerman bombshell was slim to none. McCallum revealed that security procedures at Rocky Flats were now dangerously inadequate. The DOE security man said that terrorists could easily gain access to the facility and might even succeed in detonating a nuclear bomb on site. Allegedly, McCallum's attempts to warn outsiders angered Secretary Richardson. Appearing on FOX News Sunday with Tony Snow, Richardson was grilled about McCallum's dismissal: SNOW: What about Col. Edward McCallum, who was director of the Office of Safeguards and Security? There's a dust-up on Capitol Hill. Why isn't he on the job? RICHARDSON: Because he may have committed a serious security infraction of classifed information. That is going through a legal process. That has nothing to do with China or nuclear weapons. SNOW: Does it have to do with talking to Congress? RICHARDSON: Not at all. Not at all. This is totally separate. But this involves a potential release of classified information. And I am not going to tolerate any leaks, any releases of classified information, from anybody. I will take the strongest action. And what we are doing here is looking at this very carefully. We want to protect his rights. We want to protect the department's rights. But I don't care what political pressure I get -- I will not tolerate any leaks whatsoever from anybody in the name of being a whistleblower or any other label. McCallum was dismissed just four months after he privately warned the Clinton administration about O'Leary's draconian security cutbacks. The Energy Department took nearly three years to fire Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese-born scientist at DOE's Los Alamos facility who is suspected of leaking America's most closely guarded nuclear technology to the People's Republic of China...."

 

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/24/99 Audrey Hudson "...Several government whistleblowers will testify today before a House committee that they were fired, demoted or harassed for reporting the "systematic pillaging" of U.S. military and nuclear secrets to their superiors and Congress. According to documents and advance testimony obtained by The Washington Times, the federal employees say the retaliation and harassment was directly linked to their internal criticism and testimony before Congress. ..."These witnesses have important information, and it is extremely troubling that they perceived threats to their jobs for telling the truth," said Indiana Rep. Dan Burton, the committee chairman. "We will not stand for government employees suffering retaliation simply because they told the truth about national security." ..."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/24/99 Audrey Hudson "...Los Alamos physicist Robert Henson, who first uncovered Chinese spying at the laboratory, was fired twice for bringing it to the attention of the Energy Department. He will testify that his firing was in retaliation for delivering a message nobody wanted to hear. He has since been reinstated at the lab after initiating a lawsuit...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/24/99 Audrey Hudson "...Lt. Col. Edward McCallum, director of the office of safeguards and security at the Energy Department, says he was put on administrative leave in retaliation for criticizing security at DOE nuclear facilities...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/24/99 Audrey Hudson "...Peter M. Leitner, a senior strategic trade adviser for the Defense Department and a witness in congressional investigations, says retaliation against him prompted letters from Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson to the Pentagon expressing his concern for his witness. As a result, the Office of Special Counsel is investigating political reprisals and illegal retaliation against Mr. Leitner. "Ever since these testimonies, I have been subjected to, in staccato fashion, one adverse harassing act after another," Mr. Leitner states in his testimony. He says his performance ratings were lowered and he was isolated from meetings on nuclear exports, particularly when the inspectors general were visiting the interagency meetings in response to a Senate inspection request. Mr. Leitner says he was harassed over sick leave, was given a "trumped-up" letter of reprimand, charged with a security violation and threatened with charges of insubordination. "To be victimized by my own government -- particularly the Defense Department -- for consistently putting the near- and long-term national security of the United States ahead of all other considerations is something that I still find astounding to this day," he said. In 1997, Mr. Leitner issued denials for many export-license applications from DOE laboratories, including Los Alamos, Sandia, Livermore and Oak Ridge. The licenses would have facilitated the transfer of high-technology equipment with direct application to nuclear-weapons development and testing "to the most dangerous entities within the Russian nuclear weapons" design and manufacturing complex. "I objected then and continue to object today to these so-called lab-to-lab transfers because there was no evidence of a security plan to protect U.S. technologies from being used against us," Mr. Leitner said...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/24/99 Audrey Hudson "...Jonathan Fox, an arms control specialist for the Defense Department, will tell how he was ordered to rewrite a critical memo on the eve of a state visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin in October 1997. Mr. Fox's first memo said one deal with China presented "real and substantial risk" to the United States and allied countries." He was directed to change the memo so that it stated the agreement was "not inimical" to U.S. interests. He will testify that he has also suffered retaliatory actions...."

The Center For Security Policy 6/25/99 "...In today's Washington Post, Walter Pincus -- the Administration's preferred outlet for its heavily spun damage-control efforts on the China/nuclear scandal -- reports that: "The top Energy Department official in charge of the Nation's nuclear weapons complex, Victor H. Reis, may quit or be fired in a dispute with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, sources said yesterday." One of Pincus' unidentified sources at DoE is quoted as saying: "It is no secret that Secretary Richardson has not been satisfied with the emphasis given counterintelligence and security at the labs, and Vic Reis has been the person in charge for the last six years." (Emphasis added.) In other words, as Wonderland's Duchess might have put it, "Off with his head." If this statement were not so pernicious, it would be hysterical. In fact, for at least the past two years, responsibility for "counterintelligence and security at the labs" -- and elsewhere in the nuclear weapons complex -- has actually been vested in somebody else, Rose Gottemoeller. Ms. Gottemoeller is a proponent of radical anti-nuclear proposals who, thanks to Secretary Richardson's machinations, was stealthily elevated earlier this year to the status of Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nonproliferation and National Security....."

The Center For Security Policy 6/25/99 "...It has been Ms. Gottemoeller, not Vic Reis, who has had responsibility for such scandals as: the declassification of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data in violation of the Atomic Energy Act and job action against a senior DoE bureaucrat who had the temerity to alert Congress to this breach of security and the law the demotion of Notra Trulock ...the effective firing of Lieutenant Colonel Ed McCallum...."

The Center For Security Policy 6/25/99 "...Instead of holding accountable those actually responsible for the various aspects of this travesty, he [Richardson] appears determined to use the demands for "heads to roll" to purge those who have opposed past and present Clinton political appointees' efforts to destroy the nuclear weapons program and complex. .... Still, there is little doubt but that, had it not been for his [Vic Reis] efforts, the damage done to date by the Clinton-O'Leary policy of "denuclearization" would have been even worse than has actually transpired. ...Reports reaching the Center suggest that the nuclear lab directors and other senior professionals in the weapons complex are also unwilling to tow the Administration's line on DoE reorganization....Perhaps the Secretary will have to fire all of them as well in order to find toadies who will support his position, seemingly born of nothing more than personal egotism and the reflexive, if petty, turf-protectionism of any bureaucrat, i.e, that no further improvement to the Department of Energy is necessary....."

USA Today Peter Eisler 6/25/99 "...Five witnesses, including an Energy Department security director, said they were cut out of important work, placed on leave or given poor performance reviews for suggesting that Clinton administration policies allowed technology and information with military applications to fall into the wrong hands.....Edward McCallum, director of the Energy Department's Office of Safeguards and Security, produced several reports from 1994 through 1997 that raised concerns about declining security at the agency's nuclear weapons plants and laboratories. He was placed on administrative leave in April, days before he was to testify before the intelligence advisory board on his findings. The leave was based on unspecified charges that he had compromised classified information in an unrelated matter.... The (Energy Department's) field is strewn with the careers and reputations of security officers who have dared question the system," McCallum said, arguing that the department's penchant for retaliation "sends a very clear warning that this government does not want to attract or keep its best and brightest."

USA Today Peter Eisler 6/25/99 "...F. Michael Maloof, an official at the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said he was "isolated" from working on any major issues after speaking to congressional investigators about cases in which Russia and China obtained military-use technology from U.S. firms...."

USA Today Peter Eisler 6/25/99 "...Peter Leitner, also an official at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said he was reprimanded and his performance appraisals declined after he wrote technical papers and books documenting exports of U.S. technology that helped China, India and Russia improve their nuclear weapons, missiles and submarines....."

USA Today Peter Eisler 6/25/99 "...Robert Henson, a physicist at the Los Alamos, N.M., national laboratory, said his superiors at the Energy Department facility "retaliated" against him because he reported evidence that China had stolen nuclear weapons secrets from the lab...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "...In 1995, the congressional leadership committed to passing legislation that would mandate the timely deployment of a national missile defense system. Unfortunately, that debate began on a highly partisan note -- bolstered by the President's repeated public insistence that the United States was no longer targeted by Russian missiles.... I also became a conduit for agency employees whose findings were being squelched by the Administration. That is how I first learned about the Administration's aggressive campaign of distortion -- when a former DOE employee came to my office in 1995 to discuss the deterioration of Russian nuclear security.

Jay Stewart In 1991, Jay Stewart, Director of DOE's Office of Foreign Intelligence, commissioned a panel of DOE specialists to assess the control, safety, and security of Soviet nuclear weapons. Later that year, results indicating a loss of control were briefed to Secretary of Energy James Watkins, and the CIA. Stewart made continued monitoring of this urgent situation -- known as the "Russian Fission" program -- the office priority. In December 1992, he led a classified conference on this subject matter at the National Defense University [NDU], which was widely attended by the military, intelligence and policy communities...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "...Hazel O'Leary was briefed on this situation in February 1993, and asked that Secretary-General of NATO Manfred Woerner be briefed immediately. Suddenly, after marshalling the highest levels of support from the U.S. government and NATO, the program was terminated by the newly appointed Director of DOE's Office of Intelligence and Arms Control, Jack Keliher. All papers, briefings, agendas, conference video and audio tapes were seized, locked up -- and ultimately destroyed. Keliher said that the Secretary told him the program was "politically sensitive" and could "embarrass the President." He said that "if any materials from the NDU conference ever leaked to the press, somebody would be fired." He then said Stewart's work was "ill informed," contained "inaccurate assumptions and conclusions" and should not be referred to because it "gave the wrong impression of the situation in Russia." Refusing to buckle under to political pressure and tow the party line, Stewart and his deputy were both removed from all DOE intelligence and management duties. Facing a future in dead-end positions, both quietly left DOE...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "...Concerned that the Administration would try to bury this information, and astounded by the lengths to which it went to dispose of the findings, I initiated an Armed Services Committee investigation of this matter. Most Department employees "circled the wagons," preventing us from obtaining physical evidence of politicization. However, Jay's story was ultimately corroborated by three brave DOE employees, and was later backed up in the book One Point Safe. I subsequently held several hearings in the Armed Services Committee on this matter which confirmed the validity of the Russian Fission effort -- including the testimony of Brookings Scholar Bruce Blair, Russian Academician Alexi Yablokov, General Alexander Lebed and former KGB agent Stanislav Lunev. The Stewart case was my first foray into Clinton Administration politicization of national security matters, and a stunning lesson in just how far this White House would go to bolster its own policy agenda. I still find it absolutely galling that someone of Jay Stewart's caliber, just doing his job, could be so effectively trashed by political appointees and run out of town....."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "... #1 - Just as the Russian Fission investigation was wrapping up, I learned that one of my staffer's relatives -- an employee of the CIA -- was suffering undue harrassment after presenting analysis that conflicted with the Administration's policy governing U.S. involvement in UN peacekeeping efforts. Assigned to the panel drafting Presidential Decision Directive 25 dealing with use of forces in peacekeeping efforts, this analyst revealed to his superiors an intelligence leak in Somalia that compromised U.S. security. After objecting to intelligence sharing in international peacekeeping efforts and opposing U.S. troops involvement in civil wars, he was pulled off the PDD panel and reassigned to a lesser job. Managers complained about his writing and analysis, and he suffered continued harrassment. After he requested binding arbitration, he was asked to submit to a drug test, a medical exam for brain tumors, and a psychiatric evaluation. Ultimately, it took a seasoned attorney to bring an abrupt end to the harrassment, and to ensure his exoneration...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "...#2 - When Gordon Oehler, Director of CIA's Nonproliferation Center, provided Congress with detailed information on the scope of the Iranian missile threat, he effectively ended his twenty-five year career. Members were pressing for details on Iranian threat developments, concerned about their implications for our troops and Middle East allies. At the time, the Administration was maintaining that an Iranian medium-range missile capability was a decade away. To his detriment, Oehler provided Members with candid details about technology transfers from Russia and China to Iran that vastly accelerated the Iranian missile threat. His revelations not only undermined the credibility of the Administration's threat assessment, but challenged its policy with respect to Russia and China. In my view, Oehler's greatest sin was not in arriving at these assessments, but in sharing them with a critical Congress...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "... On April 4, 1997, Lt. Jack Daly, a Navy intelligence officer serving on a joint U.S.-Canadian surveillance mission near Seattle, was shot in the eye with a laser beam while monitoring a Russian ship thought to be tracking our submarine fleet. The incident prompted a search of the ship days later, but our State Department provided twenty-four hour warning of the investigation which may have enabled the removal of the laser equipment. Only public areas were allowed to be searched. Because this incident was perceived to be a potential stumbling block in our relations with Russia, it was kept secret for weeks and efforts were made within the Defense and State Departments to cover it up. The State Department never issued a formal demarche..... Fortunately, the story was broken by Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz, who exposed more details about it is his recent book Betrayal. While no acknowledgement has been made to this day that the Russians attacked a U.S. military officer, the fleet monitoring ships was ordered to wear eye protection against lasers. When he wrote me pressing for further investigation of this matter, Daly suffered professionally for pursuing this matter. Prior to the incident, he had received his highest rating for promotion ever. After the incident, that rating was reversed, and it became the worst evaluation of his career...."

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 6/24/99 Prepared Testimony of Congressman Curt Weldon "...At a time when Congress was still questioning the validity of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, I obtained a copy of a DOE "gag order" on one of the labs preventing circulation of documents without approval, and requiring notification prior to any congressional interactions. I took Secertary Federico Pena to task for this action, and called on him to protect the sharing of CTBT information with Congress...."

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "... Fox was one of four federal whistle-blowers who publicly testified Thursday before the House Government Reform Committee. Another witness gave a written statement but testified in closed session. The five-all career civil servants-say they've been harrassed by the Clinton administration after speaking out about national security problems, which came to a head last month in a report detailing massive Chinese espionage in recent years. President Clinton has assured Americans that he would tighten security. But witnesses charge that it's still flaccid, and many say higher-ups are still retaliating against them for sounding alarms. They aren't alone. At least 10 other security whistle-blowers have faced reprisals, claims Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., a member of the special House panel that probed technology transfers to China and Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons labs. In an interview, Weldon said he knows of "15 employees who tried to speak out about what was happening within the intelligence community and were either punished, lost their jobs, were harassed or were put into lesser positions." They include an Energy Department arms-control expert, a Navy officer and two CIA agents. Calls to the Energy and Defense Departments about the hearing were not returned. But officials in the past have dismissed such whistle-blowers as "cold warriors," or Cold War throwbacks." ..."

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "...Edward McCallum. Until last month, he headed Energy's Office of Safeguards and Security for nine years. He's been one of the department's internal critics, writing reports, arguing for, among other things, tighter screening of foreign visitors to the labs. On April 16, McCallum was asked to testify before the so-called Rudman Commission, which was charged with helping fix lab security problems. Three days later, he was put on administrative leave with pay. He was allowed to keep his security clearance, which he's had for more than 25 years. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson claimed McCallum "may have committed a serious security infraction" involving allegedly classified information. The case arises from a phone call McCallum had with Jeff Peters, a former security official at Energy's Rocky Flats, Colo., nuclear weapons site. The two reportedly discussed fears about a terrorist attack because of security breaches. It turns out that the official, who lost his job, taped the conversation. And parts of it wound up on the Internet in early April, posted by lawyers for another Rocky Flats security worker who lost his job. "They claim I disclosed classified information during a conversation with a whistle-blower," McCallum said under oath. "This is not true." He added: "(The claim) is a clear and obvious act of retaliation against me" for warning of "failed security at the laboratories since 1995." (In an interview, he said several security officials at other sites have come under attack by this administration.) McCallum's old boss backs him. Maj. Gen. George McFadden, who retired from Energy last year, was recently quoted as saying McCallum "is a true professional (and) is very, very tight with national security." So does Notra Trulock, the former head of Energy's intelligence office. He recently e-mailed McCallum to commend him for pointing out the administration's targeting of whistle-blowers. Trulock himself was demoted after revealing that his boss turned down his repeated requests to warn Congress about lab security problems. Richardson says he recently gave Trulock a $10,000 bonus (though he didn't give him back his old job). For two decades, Energy has folowed a nine-step process for reviewing security infractions. It's yet to be applied in McCallum's case. He says he hasn't even been interviewed. He and his lawyers did, however, meet with Richardson on May 27. In the meeting, McCallum says Richardson waved a letter he got the day before from 10 congressman who back McCallum. Richardson then tossed it down on his desk and said: "This letter doesn't intimidate me. This isn't (expletive). I play baskeball with these guys," McCallum recalled. I understood that to mean: 'Stay away from Congress,'" said McCallum, a retired Army special operations lieutenant colonel and a decorated Vietnam vet.

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "...Robert Henson. A Los Alamos nuclear weapons physicist, Henson says he was one of the scientists who in 1995 tipped off Trulock about the Chinese heisting design data about the prized W-88 warhead. For his efforts, Henson says, he was fired in October 1995. Los Alamos claims Henson's dismissal was part of a lab work-force reduction. (That year, the lab hired 19 Chinese nationals and has added another 15 since.) Henson, 61, sued for age bias and got his job back. "Los Alamos retaliated against me because of my strong involvement in bringing to light the Chinese espionage," he said in a statement. He didn't testify in public.

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "...Jon Fox. The fax was the final act in a revealing drama that had started as soon as Fox turned in his memo on Oct. 23, 1997. The next day, like every Friday, he went to a meeting at the State Department with other Pentagon export control officials. While sitting in the meeting, he got called out by a secretary. His superior, Johnson, was on the phone. It was urgent. Fox says Johnson wanted to speak to him about the memo. "He was quite upset (and) expressed that this was not what was being looked for," Fox said. Fox insisted that China shouldn't be allowed, among other things, access to "detailed information on transfer, storage and disposition of fissionable fuels" as part of a "technical exchange" deal proposed by the White House. He stressed his points that China could divert the technology to its nuclear missile program or sell it to non-nuclear states. He provided documents to back his opinion. Johnson also wanted him to certify China as a nonproliferator, even though a 1995 Defense study ranked it at the highest level of risk. After arguing his case, Fox went back to the meeting. He was then pulled out so many times that they had to adjorn the meeting, he says. He says Johnson gave hima choice: Rewrite the memo or get another job. Fox "caved," he says, after seeing the pressure was coming from "a high level." "I'm not independently wealthy," he explained in an interview. "I could have been blackballed and never work again in government." He added that his wife also holds a federal job. But Waxman sided with Johnson's actions, arguing that Fox's memo "went beyond the technical analysis he asked for." Fox swears he'd never been asked to rewrite a review before. And he had written 125. Also, Fox says Johnson told him not to sign the revised memo. Why? If his first draft fell into the wrong hands, it would have been "too blatant of an appearance that I was being coerced," Fox said. Indeed, the final draft was stamp-signed by Charles Gallaway, a programs manager. Fox's problems didn't stop there, though. In October 1998, he was relieved of some of his certifying duties when Defense Secretary William Cohen reorganized his department.

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "...Peter Leitner. In 1994, Leitner, a longtime Pentagon export-control officer, denied to China the transfer of a McDonnell Douglas machine tool plant in Columbus, Ohio. He warned it could help the Chinese military build stealth weapons. He was ordered to change his opinion and refused. Most of the gear was exported anyway. It turns out Leitner was right. The tools were diverted to military use. The case is now under investigation. Since testifying at different times on the HIll and talking to CBS' "60 Minutes" about the administration's liberal export policy, Leitner says his performance ratings have suffered. One of the marks against him in the file reads: "advocate of tightening export controls." He says he's the only licensing officer not to receive a cash bonus despite maintaining outstanding grades. A father of four, he figures his whistle-blowing over the years has cost his family $75,000 to $100,000 in lost pay raises and bonuses. ..."

Investor's Business Daily 6/28/99 Paul Sperry "...Michael Maloof. As chief of operations for the Defense Technology Security Agency, Maloof follows dual-use exports to China and other countries to verify they haven't been diverted to military use. He's alo complained of "wholesale" decontrol of exports such as satellites, supercomputers and stealth technology in the Clinton years. He's been at Defense since 1985. After talking to The New York Times last year about satellite exports, Maloof got a call from Ken Bacon, the assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs. He said Bacon demanded to know "what was behind the story" and complained that Defense Secretary William Cohen was "blindsided." "I thought (the call) was unusual," Maloof said...."

WorldNetDaily 6/29/99 Sarah Foster "...Former IRS special agent Joe Banister had a couple of questions he hoped his congressman could answer. "If the IRS and the 16th Amendment are not legal -- and I've discovered they aren't -- should I file a 1040 form?" he wondered. Banister has been wondering about that ever since he was ousted from his high-level, well-paid job with the IRS last February. In March WorldNetDaily broke the news nationwide of his forced resignation.....Speaking with WorldNetDaily, Banister recalled that during the question-and-answer session he told Campbell and the audience that he had been a special agent since 1993 with the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, one of the service's "accountants with a gun and a badge," as they're called. Two years ago he began investigating the allegations made by so-called tax-protesters and concluded their arguments were true. Specifically: The filing of federal income tax returns is voluntary, and the filing of federal income tax returns is not required. That the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never ratified. That income taxes are not used to pay for daily government operations, but to pay the interest on the national debt. "I explained to Congressman Campbell and the folks there that I faced a real dilemma. I could either stay in my job -- even though I knew it was illegal and immoral -- or I'd have to resign," Banister said. "I explained how I had asked the IRS if my findings were correct, because if they were I would have to resign." Should his findings prove false, the question became whether the agency would show him where he was off track. "They never answered my inquiry, but said they had accepted my resignation. "So what should I do about the 1040? What about my discoveries -- are they right?" he asked Campbell. "Should I still be carrying a gun and a wearing a badge for the IRS?" ....Schulz points to Banister's report -- Investigating the IRS -- as being the most recent in a long line of studies done by researchers like Benson, Kidd and Conklin. "Their arguments are very compelling," Schulz observes, "But Congress and the courts have ignored them. That's why we're doing this. We'd really like to settle the matter." ..."

***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** 6/30/99 Vol Four No 116 "...Maybe the Energy Department should hire FNC's Carl Cameron. Tuesday night he showed how he knew about testimony from a counter-intelligence agent that the agent's boss, the Energy Department's counter-intelligence chief, wasn't even aware of. And Cameron added unique TV play for a story on the wires Tuesday and in the Washington Times Wednesday about how a Defense official was transferred pending the outcome of a probe about how the supervisor improperly tried to access the computer files of a whistleblower testifying at that moment on Capitol Hill. In a piece featured on both Special Report with Brit Hume and the Fox Report, Cameron revealed what went on behind the scenes at a House Government Reform Committee hearing last week: "Inadvertently on Capitol Hill last week several lawmakers at a closed door meeting found themselves hearing new allegations of security breaches at Energy Department nuclear labs. Democrats and Republicans say the secret testimony of Energy Department counter-intelligence agent Bob Hensen (sp?) caught them completely off-guard. Lawmakers are mum on the classified details which sources say involve weapons labs, like Los Alamos, over the last five years and may have been part of China's nuclear espionage. "The Energy Department's top spy catcher, who admits security cannot be guaranteed, said he was unaware of his agent's testimony until Fox News told him." Ed Curran: "I'm surprised at your comment. As director of counter-intelligence I think I have a responsibility to know what was said in closed hearings. I have not been informed of Mr. Hensen's comments to anybody concerning security breaches in the past. I would certainly be more than interested in finding out though." Cameron went on to explain that when House members realized what Hansen would disclose he was removed from a panel of officials testifying about reprisals for their efforts to expose security shortcomings and stop dangerous technology transfers. This was the June 24 hearing that all but FNC ignored...."

The Washington Times 6/28/99 Quin Hillyer "...* Peter Leitner, a civil servant for 22 years, is a strategic trade advisor for the Defense Technology Security Administration. He says that since 1990 he has been warning against various technology transfers to China, and that the Bush administration often ignored him just as the Clintonites do now. "But the Clinton appointees are by far the most vindictive," he told me. "I refused to approve a license which would have allowed the Chinese to obtain an entire defense factory full of very advanced machine tools which they can use for a variety of militarily productive goals. When his superiors approved the license anyway , the tools were diverted to a cruise missile factory." Mr. Leitner says his performance reviews suddenly started dropping, and that he was denied performance bonuses and within-grade pay increases. "I became a GS-15 before many colleagues who are now ahead of me on the pay scale," he said. "I, my wife, and my four children are now between $75,000 and $100,000 poorer than we would have been if I had simply gone with the flow . . . and all for just following my job description and keeping an eye on national security." ..."

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...In the latest episode of the Clinton administration's cover-up of its mind-boggling security lapses at our nuclear weapons labs, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson is now attempting to prevent a top DOE official in charge of safeguards and security from testifying before Congress. Why? ....Because that official, Edward J. McCallum, had made clear his intention to warn Congress and the public of devastating gaps in the security procedures at nuclear storage sites such as Rocky Flats, Colorado, that the Clinton administration has repeatedly, and obstinately, refused to correct. Security at Rocky Flats was so bad, McCallum warned President Clinton in a January 27, 1997 report, that terrorists could easily penetrate the facility and steal weapons-grade plutonium, or construct and detonate a nuclear bomb on the site without DOE security teams being able to prevent it. Budget reductions and other "disturbing trends" had turned DOE security into a " hollow force that goes below the bottom line and makes it more difficult to fulfill National Security mandates," McCallum wrote... In a telephone conversation four months later, McCallum was more blunt. The risk was "extremely high," he told the recently dismissed head of the Rocky Flats security detail, that terrorists could successfully attack the plutonium storage site, unleashing "a little mushroom cloud" over nearby Denver. By all accounts, McCallum's reports angered Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary, who not only failed to act on his warnings but consistently reduced the budget for security at the nation's nuclear labs--far below what McCallum and other security officials warned was the danger level. Under O'Leary's stewardship, Rocky Flats cut its security force by 40 percent, allowing prime contractor Kaiser-Hill LLC to improve its profit margin despite an overall reduction in the funds it received from DOE. Indeed, by skimping on security, Kaiser-Hill actually earned performance bonuses from DOE, because its cleanup operations were going ahead on schedule. During the Cold War, Rocky Flats was used to machine highly toxic plutonium into nuclear weapons cores...."

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...In a twist that should no longer shock observers of the Clinton administration, almost as soon as O'Leary resigned as secretary of energy in January 1997, she joined the board of ICF Kaiser, the parent of the company that McCallum had cited for poor management of Rocky Flats. O'Leary remains on the Kaiser board today, and her husband, John O'Leary, does consulting work for the group. Kaiser also hired Thomas Grumbley, a former aide to Al Gore who was put in charge of DOE's Office of Science and Technology. At DOE, Grumbley had "harpooned" Kaiser's performance at Rocky Flats, according to Mark Graf, the former security chief at Rocky Flats. Grumbley now works for Kaiser as president of its Environment & Facilities Management Group. In 1997, the House Commerce Committee discovered that Grumbley had funneled lucrative DOE contracts to Molten Metal Technology, after the company had hired Gore aide (and top DNC fundraiser) Peter Knight as its chief Washington lobbyist. MMT executives contributed $50,000 in 1994 to the University of Tennessee to establish a chair honoring the vice president's sister, and in 1995 told Knight they would raise $50,000 for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, according to Commerce Committee documents.

The Hill 6/30/99 Sam Dealy "...Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson told him that he planned to dismiss the employee for insubordination. The employee was Victor Reis, the head of the Energy Department's weapons program. "Richardson told me that he was planning to fire Vic Reis for insubordination related to Reis's talking to me and others on the Hill about our plan to reorganize the Department of Energy," Thornberry said regarding their talk several weeks ago...... Details about Richardson's extraordinary efforts to thwart members of Congress from investigating security measures in his department came to light late last week. According to Republican sources, Richardson dissuaded the House Commerce Committee from holding hearings, claiming the issue was too sensitive and that national security was at stake. According to these same sources, Richardson made the same plea to Rep. Dan Burton's (R-Ind.) Government Reform Committee and the House Leadership. After evicting staff with the highest security clearance, Richardson proceeded to brief these leaders in an unswept, unsecured room.Last Thursday Burton held a hearing on retaliation against administration employees who cooperated with security probes.....Ten Republican lawmakers recently wrote to Richardson protesting his treatment of McCallum. According to McCallum and his lawyers who met with Richardson, the secretary said the congressional letter "doesn't intimidate me," and "this isn't st." According to Burton, "It was also expressed to his attorney that the department was not happy with Mr. McCallum's contacts with Congress." At the hearing, Burton threatened to press for a contempt citation against Richardson for not cooperating with his investigation....."

The Hill 6/30/99 Sam Dealy "...In another incident in which the administration apparently attempted to silence a dissident employee, a Pentagon official has charged that his supervisor tried to gain unauthorized access to his computer while he testified before the Burton committee on Thursday about retaliations he suffered for blowing the whistle to the Cox committee and other congressional inquiries on relaxed export controls. The whistleblower, Peter Leitner, is a senior strategic trade adviser in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at the Department of Defense. "I take this as both a personal affront and an affront to the United States Congress," Burton responded to Leitner's charge. "Congress will not stand for this kind of witness intimidation." Leitner's case is indicative of the fears expressed by some members of Congress that some Clinton administration employees have suffered recriminations for voicing their concerns about lax security measures to Rep. Chris Cox's (R-Calif.) China panel. "It's a pattern of not wanting to allow a genuine discussion of the threats that are emerging to occur," said Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). "And I'm not saying this should be done publicly, but you don't squash it so it can't be done in a classified setting.",...Documents obtained by The Hill indicate that Leitner's supervisor, Col. Raymond Willson, was keenly interested in gaining access to Leitner's computer, though it is not apparent why. According to a rash of e-mails among DTRA employees, Willson requested that a subordinate, Frank Cruz, transfer certain "unclassified" files from Leitner's computer to another terminal. "I told him that it was possible, but, had to check with ... Security," read Cruz's e-mail to a colleague. What followed were several exchanges on proper agency procedure. "I am confused," wrote Willson in one. "Why do we need to go through a security office for access to U.S. government files? Would I need to go through the security office to open a U.S. government safe?" According to a later e-mail, employee Michael Fennessy wrote: "Need to know how a manager would go about getting access to said files in an emergency (need procedures = what would Security Office have told us and how long/painful would it have been)." "There is the definite feeling here that the computer and all the files on it are government property and a supervisor has the right to go into those," the e-mail continued. Willson, citing department regulations, referred all calls to the press office.

The Hill 6/30/99 Sam Dealy "...Leitner told The Hill that, as he was testifying, his boss was "trying to intimidate [co-workers] into giving him access to my computer for files he couldn't describe, but said he'd know when he saw them." Leitner said he called Friday to lodge a complaint with the agency but was told it was already being investigated. "The folks here refused to be cowed and reported it to the office of security," said Leitner. The incident was witnessed by "five different people, all very upset," said Leitner. The incident occurred as Leitner was testifying about a previous incident involving Willson. Leitner claimed Willson trumped up charges of a security breach against him, although the case is not clear-cut. Leitner said the Office of Special Counsel, an agency that investigates and prosecutes whistleblower retaliation cases, has an ongoing probe "into political retaliation against me over the years." The Pentagon agency initiated an investigation into Leitner's allegations on Monday. Pending completion of the investigation, the agency said, Willson has been "temporarily assigned to other duties." Citing concern for the integrity of the ongoing investigation, a DTRA spokesman would not comment except to say, "We have procedures in place that prevent any unauthorized access." "I suspect they were trying to plant something, some sort of false security violation," Leitner ventured, referring to what he alleges happened in the prior Willson incident. "I mean, the way these people have of trying to destroy your career," said an exasperated Leitner. "It's incredibly vindictive and politically motivated." Leitner claims that since 1995, when he first began criticizing changes in agency regulations, his performance evaluations and pay raises have suffered. In a June 1995 evaluation, according to both Leitner and the Burton committee, supervisor descriptions of Leitner's work included comments that he "veers to the right as much as possible."...."

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...Rocky Flats employees have tried to get management to focus on security problems at the facility for many years. In 1995, Mark Graf and Jeff Peters, senior security inspectors at the plant, finally wrote to Democratic Congressman David Skaggs, drawing his attention to the security deficiencies. In retaliation, Peters was placed on administrative leave, and Graf's workload was stepped up dramatically. A few months later, Graf and Peters sent an eight-page classified memorandum to their general manager and to DOE. Peters eventually resigned in June 1996, after filing a discrimination suit against Wackenhut, the security subcontractor; Graf's case is still in dispute...."

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...In February 1997, DOE dispatched a new security director to Rocky Flats, a former Air Force weapons officer and trained engineer, David Ridenour. After just three months at the job, Ridenour resigned "in disgust," sending a scathing letter to then-Energy Secretary Federico Pe. In it he complained of no government oversight--a criticism reinforced by the April 1999 GAO report--and said he had been told not to let security concerns interfere with the contractor's schedule or profits. "In my professional life as a military officer, as a registered engineer and as a technologist with the contractor operating the Department of Energy's Fernald, Ohio site, I never before experienced a major conflict between loyalty to my supervision and duty to my country and to the public," Ridenour wrote. "I feel that conflict today."

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...On April 19, 1999, Assistant Secretary of Energy Rose Gottemoeller informed McCallum that he had been placed on administrative leave without pay, and was under investigation for having released classified information in telephone conversations that were taped by Mark Graf three years earlier, and which (without his knowledge or consent) recently appeared on an Internet website. (Graf had taken his suit against Wackenhut to the Government Accountability Project, a left-leaning nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to government whistleblowers.) Gottemoeller also issued a reprimand to McCallum's superior, Joseph Mahaley, but quietly withdrew it after he threatened legal action.

The American Spectator 6/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "..."All the people who have raised the alarm over DOE security lapses have suffered some form of harassment," one Republican congressional aide told TAS. And Democrats in Congress are just as incensed. Last year, Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey wrote to Energy Secretary Richardson detailing the lapses and asking how DOE was fixing them. ... Well-informed sources close to the energy secretary say he personally gave the order to fire McCallum in April because he was "pissed off" that McCallum was the source of the information reaching the Hill about loose security at the labs...."

 

On June 16 1998, acting under the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the Justice Department to rehire Martin Andersen at his former pay grade and job as a program manager in the criminal division's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program through July 29. Anderson was the whistleblower who alleged that officials mismanaged the training of foreign policemen and prosecutors, compromised U.S. intelligence secrets and committed visa fraud.

Washington Post/AP 7/4/99 "...The State Department says it reassigned an employee from its United Nations mission because of unsatisfactory job performance, denying it retaliated against her for calling attention to alleged U.N. waste and mismanagement. The department's position in the case of Linda Shenwick, a former budget and administrative officer at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, was outlined in a letter to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press Friday. Grassley has defended Shenwick, contending the State Department decided to transfer her because she gave information to members of Congress. Such a transfer would violate a whistleblower protection law that Grassley sponsored. Shenwick's dispute with the department dates back several years. Grassley has been holding up the nomination of U.N. ambassador-designate Richard C. Holbrooke in an effort to pressure the State Department to resolve the dispute. The letter, in a reference to Grassley's action on Holbrooke, said the Shenwick case should not be influenced by unrelated issues...."

Jya.com 6/24/99 Testimony of Dr. Peter M Leitner "...To be victimized by my own government - particularly the Defense Department - for consistently putting the near- and long-term national security of the United States ahead of all other considerations is something that I still find astounding to this day. I believe that a deadly combination of corruption, greed, careerism, indolence, and possibly darker motives have brought us to this sad turning point in the nature of the military threats to the United States and along the Chinese periphery - extending from the Central Asian republics through the Indian Ocean and along the Pacific Rim... From 1986 to 1990 I was consistently praised by DoD officials for my effectiveness in documenting and persuasively defending American technology security interests around the world in international negotiations.... In 1994, I wrote a technical paper called "McDonnell Douglas Machine Tool Sales to the PRC: Implications for U.S. Policy" and refused a direct order to change my denial of the transfer of the Columbus, Ohio, B-1 Bomber/MX Missile/C-17 plant to China. This incident was the subject of a recent 60 Minutes broadcast. Later that year I co-authored a study entitled "Transferring Stealth Technology to the PRC: Three Pieces to the Chinese Puzzle." This paper revealed how the PRC was targeting U.S. companies for technology acquisition with surgical precision.... At one point, DTSA attempted to insert a criteria stating that my licensing decisions had to meet with the approval of my supervisor at least 90 percent of the time..... It was in December 1997 that a campaign to further isolate me began - this time to confiscate my office computers, a laptop and a desktop.... About this time, I began to see and issue denials for a large number of export license applications originating with the DoE-sponsored national laboratories - particularly Los Alamos, Sandia, Livermore, and Oak Ridge. These licenses were intended to facilitate the transfer of a variety of high-tech equipment with direct application to nuclear weapons development and testing to the most dangerous entities within the Russian nuclear weapons design, test, and manufacturing complex. I objected then, and continue to object today, to these so-called Lab-to-Lab transfers because there was no evidence of a security plan to protect U.S. technologies from being used against us, there was no evidence that the Department of Energy exercised any credible level of control over these activities, and after meeting with lab officials it was apparent to me that the labs had become entrepreneurial and were creating programs not so much to resolve the fictional "loose nukes" problem as to keep themselves employed and avoid layoffs....In 1997, I witnessed the intentional orchestration by the administration of a series of events resulting in the false certification to Congress that China is not a nuclear proliferant. This provided the Chinese legal access to many nuclear technologies to complement that which the committee so clearly demonstrated they were engaged in stealing...... In August I was called before the Cox/Dicks Committee where I testified on the PRC threat and worked very closely with that staff - providing over 18 inches of documents and hours of follow-on interviews with staff. Ever since these testimonies I have been subjected to, in staccato fashion, one adverse harassing act after another. The most prominent of these are: further lowering of my performance rating, attempts to isolate me from attending meetings concerning nuclear exports -- particularly when the IG's were visiting the interagency meetings pursuant to the Senate inspection request, a trumped-up letter of reprimand, sick leave harassment, a falsified charge of a security violation, and implied threats to charge me with insubordination or defiance of authority. In fact, the DoD IG found that of the 16 DTSA licensing officers I am the only one not to receive a bonus, or an outstanding or superior rating, this in spite of the fact that I am the only person to have authored any technical or policy analyses or to have stood up for DoD's national security mission in the face of interagency obstructionism. All of this happened since my Cox/Dicks testimony. These actions were deemed so serious that Senator Thompson twice wrote to the Pentagon, including to Secretary Cohen, expressing concern for his witnesses. In addition, the Office of Special Counsel has accepted my case for a full investigation of political reprisals and illegal retaliation...... The politicization of the career Civil Service is an extraordinarily dangerous and insidious process that has been more radically advanced during the past six years than at any time since the enactment of the Hatch Act...."

Investor’s Business Daily 7/8/99 "… Richardson forced Victor Reis, assistant secretary of Energy for defense programs, to resign. Reis' offense? Backing a plan in Congress to create a semi- autonomous unit within Energy to manage the nuclear arsenal…."

New York Times 7/12/99 Philip Shenon "…In a statement, the State Department did not directly address the question of Ms. Albright's involvement in Ms. Shenwick's case but criticized senators who are holding up Holbrooke's nominations "for reasons that have nothing to do with his qualifications." Ms. Shenwick has charged that she was removed from her post at the American mission to the United Nations because she provided damaging information about the U.N. to members of Congress and to reporters. The Department has refused to respond to details of Ms. Shenwick's accusations, noting that the case is now the subject of an investigation by the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency that is supposed to protect whistle-blowers…..Grassley's "hold" relates not to Holbrooke's qualifications but instead to the State Department's treatment of Ms. Shenwick. "My position on the Holbrooke nomination remains firm," Grassley said. "The price for lifting the hold is for the department to negotiate in good faith with Linda Shenwick. The State Department has a very weak case in refusing to do so."…"

Environmental News 7/99 Bonner R Cohen "…David Lewis, a world-renowned microbiologist who spent almost three decades at the Environmental Protection Agency, became so concerned about the misuse of science at the agency that he wrote letters to Vice President Al Gore and EPA Administrator Carol Browner alerting them to the deteriorating situation. When he got no response, Lewis went public with an article in the prestigious British journal, Nature, in which he warned that science at EPA had reached a "state of crisis." EPA responded to Lewis' claims by accusing him of ethics violations. The charges were later dismissed by a Department of Labor mediation board. Lewis filed a whistleblower complaint against the agency and, in a settlement, was awarded $115,000. Other EPA whistleblowers report similar treatment by the agency. In late March, Lewis was joined by two colleagues, Brian Rimar and Arnie Grigsby, at a Washing press conference where the three blasted EPA for putting politics before science in carrying out its policies. For calling attention to poor science at the agency, all three whistleblowers have been forced out of EPA….These are not isolated cases. According to attorneys familiar with the claims against EPA, at any given time the agency is involved in scores of lawsuits with its own employees. Attorney Stephen Kohn, president of the Washington-based National Whistleblowers Center, says EPA's arsenal of weapons includes "threats to demote or transfer employees, baseless criminal investigations, and trumped-up charges of ethics violations--all aimed at ostracizing, intimidating, and--ultimately--silencing those who speak out…."

Drudge Report 7/13/99 Freeper Doctor Raoul "…Lt. Patrick J. Burns says goodbye to the Navy today at a retirement ceremony in his honor at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. His retirement is not voluntary. The Navy forced him out after he acknowledged releasing the training records of two female pilots whom he believed received special treatment during F-14 flight qualifications in 1994…"I find that you intentionally violated the Privacy Act by releasing the personal training records of a fellow officer to an individual outside the federal government who lacked authority to receive such records," Mr. Dalton wrote…." Doctor Raoul observes "…


Ken Bacon violated the same Privacy Act when he released Linda Tripp's security form to a pro-Clinton reporter…."

Richmond Times Dispatch 7/18/99 Michael Hardy "...After voting overwhelmingly to condemn President Clinton for impeachment-related conduct, Virginia Legionnaires yesterday tabled a resolution for more study lest it jeopardize the careers of active servicemen. In effect, the about-face at the annual convention of the Virginia Department of the American Legion probably kills the emotion-filled resolution, several Legionnaires predicted. "Nobody thought about the effect it might have on security clearances for our active-duty members," acknowledged Virginia State Adjutant Cornelius T. "Connie" O'Neill....After some tense minutes, Bill Bryant, national executive committeeman representing the state at the national headquarters, told the convention delegates that the resolution could jeopardize the careers and security clearances of active servicemen...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 7/22/99 John McCaslin "...On April 20, IRS senior appraiser Matt McErlean submitted a critical 16-page report to the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, accusing IRS management of systematically violating taxpayers' constitutional rights to uniformity in tax assessments based on appraisals. According to the report, the violation is so egregious as to compromise an "unlegislated tax break." "Billions in American taxpayers' [money] is lost, and the loss is a direct result of IRS's lack of appraisal standards and appraiser competency requirements," Mr. McErlean charges. But the story doesn't end there. Mr. McErlean has since been handed a forced transfer, which he's refused. As a result, he's been declared "AWOL" and the IRS has stopped his pay. According to the Government Accountability Project in Washington, which has taken up Mr. McErlean's case, this is the "latest in a series of retaliatory actions the IRS has taken against McErlean" since he submitted his report.....Mr. Umble told Inside the Beltway yesterday that Mr. McErlean, who works in the Baltimore IRS office, received notice Friday, April 23, that he was to report to work at the IRS office in New York City by the following Monday...."

New York Post 7/29/99 Editorial Board "...Clark committed the crime of honesty, and honesty just can't be tolerated in Clinton-land. As Michael Ignatieff details in this week's New Yorker, Clark was a man with a plan- a plan the administration and NATO were only willing to implement when it became clear they were on the verge of losing the war. From the first, Clark wanted to bomb the electrical grid and communications network that kept Slobodan Milosevic riding high. But it took from March to May for Clark to get the approval. When the strike was finally carried out, it spelled defeat for the Serbs. Clark won a war with his hands practically tied behind his back. He took the heat for the Clinton administration's dithering while arguing all the while for the right thing - a coordinated land and air attack...."

Stratfor 7/30/99 "...The first of the heads responsible for the Kosovo crisis rolled on July 27, when Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General Wesley Clark was sacked. Clark was ordered to resign his post in April, three months before the end of his current term, to be replaced by Air Force General Joseph Ralston, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Officially, Clark's term was shortened because otherwise Ralston, whose term as JCS vice chairman expires in February, would have been forced to retire. Instead, it is Clark who is being pensioned off, though Defense Secretary William Cohen reportedly recommended Clark be offered an ambassadorship..... General Clark was one of four top Clinton advisors most responsible for pushing the U.S. and NATO into a military confrontation over Kosovo. According to a number of reports that emerged during and after the war, Secretary of State Madeline Albright in January 1999 presented the plan under which NATO should threaten air strikes. She was backed up by Clark and by envoys Richard Holbrooke and Robert Gelbard, who argued that Milosevic would buckle under a day or two of bombing, if not merely the threat of air strikes. They, in turn, were backed by a sea of anonymous analysts in the U.S. intelligence agencies who, until the bombing began, repeatedly argued that Milosevic would quickly submit under air attacks. Skeptics included Cohen, Shelton, presidential advisor Sandy Berger, and presumably Ralston...."

Washington Post 7/29/99 Jim Hoagland "...Washington is a city of careers: Job changes both cause and reflect seismic political events. Such a shift is now underway at the Pentagon, where Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the NATO commander who recently got Slobodan Milosevic to say uncle in Kosovo, was told on Tuesday to look for a new job. Ingratitude, or history on the march? Some of both may be involved. Clark, not given to underestimating his place in history, can take solace in reflecting on the fates of Winston Churchill at the end of World War II or George Bush after Desert Storm. Their victories were also rewarded with eviction notices from electorates ready to move on to new subjects....Ignatieff quotes Clark acknowledging his frustration with "the only air campaign in history in which lovers strolled down riverbanks in the gathering twilight . . . to watch the fireworks" -- until May 24, when heavy munitions destroyed the transformer yards of the Yugoslav power grid and changed the course of the war. Clark, a member of the U.S. negotiating team at Dayton that produced the Bosnian peace accord, brought personal involvement and experience in the Balkans with him to the NATO job. He also brought along a willingness to stand up for his beliefs. That quality helped end a war and save lives. It may also have cost Clark a few months of his tour in one of the world's most important jobs. If so, it was a trade worth making....."

Washington Times 7/30/99 "...We have learned not to expect much by way of gratitude or graciousness from the Clinton White House.... Case in point this week is the dismissal of NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark. Gen. Clark's three-year tour of duty was to have ended in July 2000 -- and could at that time have been extended. Indeed, given that NATO's political leaders all around declared their pride in NATO's air-war victory over Serbia, one might well have expected Gen. Clark to receive commendations and medals. Instead, the general got the pink slip.... It is not just that the Gen. Clark was dismissed prematurely, but also the way it was handled. When Gen. Clark received the call on Tuesday, in the late afternoon, Washington time, he was on business in Latvia. That would be about 10 p.m. Latvian time. Within the hour, reporters started calling for comment, which is evidently how long it took for the Pentagon to leak the story....."

New York Post 8/2/99 Deborah Orin "...U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark - just dumped as NATO's top commander - wanted to seize Kosovo's Pristina airport to bar Russian troops, but was blocked for fear he'd start "World War III," a new report claims. Russia's success in landing and grabbing control of the airport was a major embarrassment to NATO as it began enforcing the peace deal in Kosovo, which didn't plan for Russians at that key site. Clark ordered an airborne assault to beat the Russians to the punch, but NATO's ground commander, British Gen. Mike Jackson, defied the order and told Clark: "I'm not going to start World War III for you," Newsweek reports...."

The Weekly Standard 8/2/99 Matthew Rees "..."I have never seen such a blatant, raw attempt to harass and silence a whistleblower who simply told the truth." That's Sen. Charles Grassley, a normally even-keeled Iowa Republican, thundering in a recent speech about the treatment of Linda Shenwick.. .....Linda Shenwick started working at the State Department in 1979 while she was still in law school, driven by a sense of public service and an interest in foreign affairs. In 1984 she was transferred to the U.S. mission to the United Nations, where she first was assigned to handle personnel and budget issues. She quickly carved out a reputation for diligence and hard work, which won her three consecutive "outstanding" ratings the highest given-between January 1987 and July 1989. Her performance also won her regular promotions, and in 1988 she was admitted to the Senior Executive Service, an elite corps of federal civil servants. In August 1991 and again in November 1993, representatives of other U.N. member states elected Shenwick to serve on the influential Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), which recommends how U.N. money and personnel should be allocated. ...."

The Weekly Standard 8/2/99 Matthew Rees "...The first instance of outright hostility came in June 1994. During a senior staff meeting attended by Shenwick, Albright blamed her for the hold Sen. Larry Pressler, a South Dakota Republican, had placed on the nomination of David Birenbaum for a top management and reform job. "The president wants this nomination,'' hissed Albright, "and you are impeding it." Shenwick's supposed sin? She had, in full compliance with State Department regulations, responded to requests from Pressler about U.N. budget and management practices, and he had used the information in Birenbaum's confirmation hearing. .....When Shenwick didn't back down, the harassment escalated. In October 1994, Birenbaum-by this time confirmed as deputy representative for U.N. management and reform-relieved her of her authority to assign work to much of her staff, claiming she was too busy with her ACABQ duties. Shenwick disagreed and took the matter up with Edward Gnehm, a senior U.S. mission official. He was no help. "What do you expect after what you did at Birenbaum's hearings," he told her. "This is payback." ..."

The Weekly Standard 8/2/99 Matthew Rees "...In March 1995, Shenwick attended a meeting of top U.S. mission officials, and they criticized her job performance. When she pointed to her favorable personnel evaluations-she'd received an "excellent" and an "outstanding" during the period from July 1992 to May 1994-Albright quickly interjected, "We are looking into changing that." And when Albright learned Shenwick had shared public information with a Senate Appropriations Committee staffer about shoddy U.N. procurement practices, she ordered her "never to meet with Hill staffers alone again" (Rubin repeated the order a few days later). .... In the spring of 1996, when the United States had to nominate someone for the U.N.'s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, Albright dumped Shenwick, who had just completed nearly five years on the committee. She told her that while her performance had been "excellent," she had been "too tenacious on U.N. reform." ...."

The Weekly Standard 8/2/99 Matthew Rees "...Indeed, even after engineering Shenwick's ouster from the ACABQ, Albright wasn't content. In April 1996, for example, Albright personally ordered the hiring of a retired former deputy chief of the U.S. mission, Herbert Gelber, and made his primary responsibility overseeing Shenwick and evaluating her performance. This was highly suspicious, given that no such position had previously existed at the U.S. mission and Gelber had once been a top deputy to Thomas Picketing, the U.N. ambassador Shenwick had tangled with years earlier. It didn't take Gelber long to strike. Within a month of accepting the job, he had raised questions about Shenwick's use of entertainment funds, telephones, and fax machines (an investigation by the State Department's inspector general found no wrongdoing). Subsequent remarks, however, revealed that his real concerns with Shenwick were not ethical but political. He once said to her, during a meeting in his office, "What you do with Republicans is between you and God, but I don't know how you sleep at night."..."

The Weekly Standard 8/2/99 Matthew Rees "...And when it appeared that Sen. Pressler, who was up for reelection in 1996, was in jeopardy, Gelber told Shenwick, "It looks like he's going to be gone, and you'll be next." ....Illustrating the sheer pettiness of the department's case against Shenwick are the charges it forwarded to the Office of Special Counsel last year to justify her "unsatisfactory" rating. Shenwick, according to the State Department, had had a poor relationship with the chairman of the ACABQ, hadn't given proper credit to her staff for writing memos, and had failed to have a going-away party for a member of her staff. ....Three days later, the State Department upped the ante, telling Shenwick that if she didn't take the position she would be transferred to a job in Washington in 60 days. But she didn't budge, telling State in early May she didn't want the Department of Energy lab job. This set off a new round of negotiations with State Department officials, which culminated on June 16 with Shenwick's being handed a faxed memo from Alex De La Garza, a State Department personnel official, informing her she had 48 hours to vacate the U.S. mission. The memo also reiterated that Shenwick was to begin a new State Department job in Washington on June 29. She resisted taking the new job-she says she's almost as unqualified for it as she is for the Department of Energy lab job-but State refused to negotiate. Shenwick subsequently asked a senior U.S. mission official with whom she had friendly relations why the crusade against her was suddenly intensifying, and she was given a simple answer: Washington....."

 

WorldNetDaily 8/9/99 Jane Chastain "...Sen. Grassley made it clear that by lifting the hold on Holbrooke he is not giving up on Shenwick. In fact, he told his colleagues that he is raising the stakes by placing holds on three recent State Department appointments. How did Shenwick become the central figure in a tug-of-war between the administration and Congress? Shenwick may be little known to the public, but for years this dedicated public servant has been a valuable source of information on waste, fraud and abuse at the United Nations. Government officials, elected representatives on both sides of the aisle and members of the media have used her facts and figures in an attempt to keep this bloated international agency accountable to U.S. taxpayers, who pay a full 1/4 of its enormous budget...."

WorldNetDaily 8/9/99 Jane Chastain "... In Bosnia, it was discovered that accounting procedures were so loose that the United Nations overpayments on a fuel contract amounted to $1.8 million. Then Kenyan peacekeepers stole 25,000 gallons and sold it to the Serbs. In May of '93, when the United Nations took over the operation in Somalia from us, they turned the former U.S. embassy complex into an air-conditioned fortress, complete with golf course. With a $2 million a day budget for that operation alone, it could afford it....At U.N. headquarters in New York City where Shenwick worked, United Nations employees make almost twice the going U.S. rate. On top of that, they get cushy allowances to send their children to private schools and are reimbursed for their taxes. Furthermore, there is no code of conduct for these employees, no requirement that officials recuse themselves from matters in which they have conflicts of interest and nothing to prevent nepotism. As a result, one senior U.N. diplomat placed his common law wife on staff at a salary of more than $60,000 per year...."

WorldNetDaily 8/9/99 Jane Chastain "...Shenwick's timely and accurate information to Congress led to reforms and more effective control of the U.N. budget. She was not a snitch, as some have claimed, but she did take seriously her job as a budget analyst at the United States Mission to the United Nations. Never a push-over, always fair-minded, she was so respected by her peers that she was elected to the U.N. budget committee, a position won by an internal United Nations vote. In 1996, this valuable seat on the committee was lost when Madeleine Albright refused to nominate her again for the post. Now Shenwick has been unceremoniously booted out of the job she had performed so well...."

Laisse-Faire City Times 11/2/98 ".Kathleen Jonoski, the top photographer for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, took the only pictures showing an apparent bullet hole in former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's head. She has filed a suit, along with two other top pathologists, against the military, which demoted all three after they exposed the problems surrounding no autopsy of Brown's body. This interview [excerpt] is conducted by former Washington Weekly reporter Wesley Phelan. QUESTION: So you don't believe the story of the defective x-ray cassette? JANOSKI: No. About 6 months after the crash I had a conversation with Jeanmarie Sentell, a naval criminal investigative agent. She told me the first set of head x-rays on Ron Brown were deliberately destroyed because they showed a lead snowstorm. I said, "What are you talking about?" She explained to me what a lead snowstorm is: metal fragments breaking up from a bullet. And she proceeded to tell me that the first set of x-rays was deliberately destroyed and a second set was taken. The exposure was changed in an attempt to eradicate or diminish the metal fragments.."

USA Today 8/10/99 Edward Pound "...A group of influential Republican congressmen pressed Defense Secretary William Cohen on Monday to reinstate an investigator who was removed from his job only hours after he began a security background review of Cohen's old friend, former Colorado senator Gary Hart. Twenty House members, including the chairmen of two committees and four members of the Armed Services Committee, sent Cohen a letter of "protest" demanding he rescind a proposed 30-day suspension of David Kerno, who works for the Defense Security Service in Lakewood, Colo., near Denver. Kerno, 53, described by the lawmakers as "a professional and principled investigator," does not deserve to be punished for doing his job, the letter said. Kerno began to check into Hart's background last year after Cohen named the Colorado lawyer to the prestigious National Security Study Group, a panel that will make an extensive review of the nation's security needs.....In his background inquiry, Kerno asked colleagues in a Denver law firm about Hart's personal life. Later that day, Hart complained to Cohen's office. Within 30 hours, Kerno was assigned to a desk job. The Defense Security Service later started suspension proceedings against him. Kerno has said he was only doing his job, which requires agents to dig into personal lives. Hart's relationship with a part-time model forced his withdrawal from the 1988 presidential race. The security service conducts background checks on Defense personnel and others requiring access to classified data. The agency also has been sharply criticized for mismanagement and failure to cut an enormous backlog of investigations. The General Accounting Office, a congressional watchdog agency, is reviewing the agency's practices and will issue a report this year. In their letter, the lawmakers said Cohen's failure to defend Kerno was "astounding and only highlights this administration's lack of concern for the important national security interests behind personnel screening and the security clearance review process." They said the questions Kerno had asked Hart's colleagues were "standard procedure" for background inquiries. The lawmakers urged Cohen to halt Kerno's "threatened punishment," an act that would "reassure the public that the background investigation process will remain above board...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...I was a 23-year veteran Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). For the last 11 years of my FBI career (1985-1996), I was assigned to The White House where I performed background checks on White House personnel. I was first detailed to The White House in 1980..... A March, 1993 report (Exhibit 1 hereto) memorializes an interview I conducted with White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, as part of a background check on Craig Livingstone, Director of the Office of Personnel Security (OPS). The report states in pertinent part: The following investigation was conducted by SA M. Dennis Sculimbrene regarding DAVID CRAIG LIVINGSTONE on 3/1 -3/99... BERNARD NUSSBAUM, Counsel to the President, advised that he has known the appointee for the period of time that he has been employed in the new administration. He had come highly recommended to him by HILLARY CLINTON, who has known his mother for a longer period of time.... During the course of one of these interviews, Craig Livingstone told me of a personal connection between himself, his mother, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Contemporaneous notes from my 1993 desk calendar corroborate and reflect Livingstone's account of his relationship to Hillary Clinton. The purpose of making this note was to advise my supervisor. After completing Craig Livingstone's background check, Associate White House Counsel William H. Kennedy III called me to his office to discuss Livingstone. Kennedy indicated his personal concerns with Livingstone and asked me for an opinion regarding Livingstone's continued employment. I offered an opinion, albeit hesitatingly because my obligations did not include making recommendations. I told Kennedy that Jackie Dinwiddie, who had been Director of the White House Office of Personnel Security during the Carter Administration (then known as the Security Office), was interested in Livingstone's position. Kennedy inferred to me that he was "stuck" with Craig Livingstone as Director of OPS. I inferred that Mrs. Clinton wanted Livingstone for the position. ..."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...In early March, 1993, William H. Kennedy, David Watkins (Director of White House Management and Administration) and Jeff Eller (Deputy White House Communications Director) attempted to question me about the backgrounds and political views of the staff of the White House Travel Office. Because the Privacy Act prohibited me from revealing information about specific persons, I advised Kennedy, Eller, and Watkins that, based upon my memory of previous background investigations, I was not aware of any derogatory information about any persons employed in the White House Travel Office. I notified my supervisor about being questioned by Kennedy, Eller and Watkins. I suggested to my supervisor that The Clinton White House was looking for an excuse to fire the Travel Office employees and that the FBI would be "used" to provide an excuse. Travel Office employees were fired May 19, 1993...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...In May, 1993 I was advised that the long-standing White House policy of providing me with "courtesy" copies of requests for FBI background files was to be ended and that I was to avoid liaison activity with OPS. My mail box in OPS was no longer used. The practice of providing me with copies of OPS requests for FBI background files would not be resumed until late fall-early winter of 1994. During the time from May, 1993 to late fall-early winter, 1994, I understand that hundreds of FBI files were improperly requested by The Clinton White House. If standard prior procedure had been followed, I would have been informed, through documents at least, that the FBI files of former Reagan and Bush staffers and others were being improperly requested during this time period...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...During Craig Livingstone's tenure as OPS director, particularly during the first year, there were instances when I observed the OPS office unoccupied and the door to its vault, which contained FBI files and other confidential government information, wide open. During Livingstone's tenure as OPS Director, I complained to my supervisors about the management of OPS, delays in the clearance process for White House employees and the fact that many persons, including employees, were being given access to The White House complex without proper passes. I testified truthfully at Billy Ray Dale's "Travelgate" trial in November, 1995 - a trial which resulted with Mr. Dale being acquitted. Part of my testimony detailed how, after the Travelgate controversy had broken, I had witnessed unknown individuals in the Travel Office going through files and throwing items away, some of which appeared to be official documents...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "... Shortly after I testified as a Defense witness for Billy Dale, former director of the White House Travel Office, I was advised that I was no longer a viable candidate. Furthermore, I became the subject of an investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Office of Professional Responsibility Inquiry (OPR) based on one anonymous letter which was officially discredited. I was so emotionally distraught that I had to take two weeks sick leave because of my emotional reaction to this unwarranted and baseless investigation. When I returned, I attempted an informal discussion with my new supervisor. I requested that informal reasonable accommodations granted in October 1994 when I returned to work after a skull fracture in January 1994 be continued at that time. At the time of the informal discussion with my new supervisor (in April, 1996), I still I suffered from cognitive and physical deficits. Yet the consequence of this conversation was not the continuance of the informal reasonable accommodation for my medical condition, but the removal of all work assignments, on April 24, 1996. Press reports were leaked about my testimony with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, in late June, 1996. One of the questions asked of me pertained to my assignment at the time. I answered truthfully that I had none. The FBI had not assigned me any work since April. After my testimony, they attempted to assign me work that conflicted with the recommendation of their own psychologist...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...On June 28, 1996, my White House Pass was canceled, without written reason, although I requested such. My supervisor at the time verbally advised that my pass was being revoked for my own safety and because my presence "made the First Family uncomfortable." I would note that a request by The White House for a background reinvestigation regarding myself was made after I was removed from The White House. I have no other explanation for the events that I have witnessed and been subjected to other than retaliation for my testimony at the Dale Trial and unwillingness to change truthful testimony that, among other things, links First Lady Hillary Clinton to the hiring of Craig Livingstone and Filegate...."

Judicial Watch 8/99 M Dennis Sculimbrene 8/99 Declaration "...On July 16, 1996, two FBI agents arrived at my home. The FBI agents began to question me about the three-year-old insert (Exhibit 1) memorializing my interview with Bernard Nussbaum. During the course of the interview, the FBI agents asked me approximately thirty times if I had any notes of my three-year-old interview with Bernard Nussbaum. I repeatedly informed them that I had not maintained these notes, as per FBI procedures. Also during the course of the interview, the FBI agents repeatedly told me that President Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and former White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum had contradicted my three-year-old insert (Exhibit 1). The FBI agents pitted my credibility against the credibility of President Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum approximately four times. While the stated purpose of the interview was to "clarify" certain issues, my efforts to provide clarification were rebuffed by the FBI agents. Based on their actions and on my experience as a law enforcement officer, I felt the FBI agents were sent to my home and attempted to intimidate me....."

 

Washington Times 8/19/99 Bill Gertz "…Navy intelligence officer injured by a laser while photographing a Russian spy ship has been passed over for promotion by the Navy, effectively ending his career. Navy Lt. Jack Daly, an intelligence officer, said yesterday he is bitter at the Navy's decision not to promote him to lieutenant commander rank following House testimony in February criticizing the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence. It was the second time he failed to be promoted. Under Navy rules, he must leave the service in seven months. "I think this was an effort to get me to shut up and go away," Lt. Daly said in an interview. "I'm convinced this is all part of a cover-up ordered by the White House." The Navy officer, a "mustang" who rose up from the enlisted ranks, was referring to the April 1997 incident aboard a Canadian military helicopter photographing the Kapitan Man, a Russian ship near Washington state's Puget Sound. It was spying on an outbound U.S. nuclear-missile submarine it had sailed past a short time earlier After the photographic mission, both Lt. Daly and Canadian Capt. Pat Barnes came down with symptoms of laser exposure that caused permanent damage to their eyes. A search of the Russian ship was limited by the State Department to public areas of the vessel, and State also tipped off the Russian Embassy in advance of a Navy boarding party looking for the hand-held laser that could have caused the damage…."

A.P. 8/20/99 AP "…The Defense Security Service transferred its general counsel to another Pentagon agency after he repeatedly warned his bosses they were violating regulations by taking shortcuts on security background checks, according to a report published today. USA Today says counsel Thomas Willess was moved to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency about a year ago. The newspaper says that several current and former Defense Department officials said Willess repeatedly cautioned his bosses about relaxing standards for conducting background checks. They either ignored him or in some cases didn't consult Willess, the officials said….. USA Today said Willess was never told why he was transferred. The Pentagon had no comment…."

USA TODAY 8/20/99 Edward T Pound "…The general counsel of the Defense Security Service was removed and transferred to another Pentagon agency after he repeatedly warned superiors they were violating government regulations by taking shortcuts on security background investigations. In a series of interviews, several current and former Defense Department officials said counsel Thomas Willess was moved to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in September 1998. During the prior two years, they say, Willess cautioned his superiors against relaxing investigative standards for background reviews. They either ignored him or in other cases didn't consult him, officials say….. The disclosure of Willess' removal takes on added significance in the wake of a draft report done by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. According to government officials, the GAO says top security service managers changed policies and relaxed standards, contrary to regulations and despite objections of other officials….The GAO said 92% of the investigations it reviewed did not fully meet the standards. The security service's new managers vow to fix the problems…. In a statement, Willess would say only that he had "taken positions that were not always in lockstep" with them. Current and former officials say Willess argued that the standards couldn't be changed unilaterally. When the agency decided to do many interviews by telephone in an effort to save money, he objected Willess has never been given a reason for his transfer. He also reports to the Pentagon's Office of General Counsel. He told associates he was called to that office last August and informed of his transfer. The Pentagon declined comment.