DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: BEHIND THE TREASON ALLEGATIONS
SUBSECTION: JANET RENO & DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Revised 8/20/99

 

Janet Reno is the first woman Attorney General of the United States of America. Nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993. She was again appointed in 1997 by President Clinton and remains Attorney General of the United States….

The early life and career of Janet Reno helps us understand the reasons why Janet Reno is the remarkable person she is. Born on July 21, 1938 in Miami, Florida. Her father, Henry Reno, came to the United States from Denmark and for forty-three years was a police reporter for the Miami Herald. Jane Wood, Reno's mother, raised her children and then became an investigative reporter for the Miami News. Janet Reno has three younger siblings. Strong roots for a strong woman

Janet Reno attended public school in Dade County, Florida, where she was a debating champion at Coral Gables High School. In 1956 Janet Reno enrolled at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she majored in chemistry, became president of the Women's Self Government Association, and earned her room and board.

In 1960 Janet Reno enrolled at Harvard Law School, one of only sixteen women in a class of more than 500 students. She received her LL.B. from Harvard three years later. Despite her Harvard degree, she had difficulty obtaining work as a lawyer because she was a woman.

In 1971 Janet Reno was named staff director of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. She helped revise the Florida court system. In 1973 she accepted a position with the Dade County State's Attorney's Office. She left the state's attorney's office in 1976 to become a partner in a private law firm.

In 1978, Reno was appointed State Attorney General for Dade County. She was elected to the Office of State Attorney in November 1978 and was returned to office by the voters four more times. She helped reform the juvenile justice system and pursued delinquent fathers for child support payments and established the Miami Drug Court.

The strength, vision, tenacity and commitment of Janet Reno makes her a role model for all who seek justice.

The Wall Street Journal 10/15/97 "…Ms. Reno's position gets more preposterous by the hour. After all, the whole idea of an independent investigation is independence. The intent of the present Independent Counsel Act is that when accusations involve the President and other high officials, their own appointees should not be the investigators. Before the statute, Justice Department practice--in Watergate and Teapot Dome, for example--was to appoint a special prosecutor to operate independently of the Attorney General and other Presidential appointees. The President could always fire a special prosecutor, but at a high political price, as President Nixon discovered when he dispatched Archibald Cox…..If a controversy has reached the point where it's necessary to question the President, it has long since passed the point where an independent counsel is required. After getting "mad" about the delay in releasing video tapes of White House coffee solicitations, Ms. Reno hauled a member of the White House Counsel's office before a grand jury. If White House lawyers are being taken to a grand jury, surely it should be done not by Justice but by an authority with some measure of independence. In defending her position, Ms. Reno has been at once defensive and self-righteous. Yet in fact throughout her tenure, the press, the Congress and the public have treated her with extraordinary deference, due to her gender, her demeanor and her sufferings with Parkinson's Disease. Ed Meese would have been run out of town way back over Waco…."

3/9/99 Dan K. Thomasson Nando Media Scripps Howard News Service "…Janet Reno was Bill Clinton's third choice to be attorney general, but she now must be No. 1 in his heart. The former Dade County (Fla.) prosecutor, whose family has a history of alligator wrestling in the Everglades, has managed to get a hammerlock on at least two of her boss's major nemeses - the campaign funding scandal and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. By stubbornly refusing to trigger an independent inquiry of the financial scandal despite a law that was designed for just that kind of official hanky-panky, Reno has managed to defuse a bomb that potentially could have done far more harm to Clinton (and, for that matter, his entire administration) than Monica Lewinsky. The need for an independent investigation into, among other things, Chinese contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign through the Democratic National Committee has been heightened by recent disclosures of Chinese spying on the U.S. nuclear weapons program in the late 1980s. The Clinton administration has been slow to accept the allegations of severe security damage and, while there is no evidence of a link between the giving and White House policy toward China, there already is speculation about such a connection. And now Reno is in the midst of investigating the investigator, Starr (while pushing for the end of the Independent Counsel Act altogether), lending aid and comfort to Clinton's forces who have been trying to discredit him from almost the outset of his several probes. The three-judge panel that appointed Starr has stepped into the case to determine whether she has the power to do so even though the law gives the attorney general the right to remove an independent counsel and presumably to conduct an investigation to make that determination.

The Justice Department contends there is absolutely no political motivation in Reno's decision to conduct the investigation to determine whether Starr has overstepped or abused his authority. That's difficult to buy under the circumstances….. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., who led the Senate investigation into the campaign-funding irregularities, recently noted that it has been the history of the 20-year-old act that the party whose president is being investigated attacks the independent counsel. Thompson also accused Reno of sabotaging the act. He said that by refusing to name an outside prosecutor in the fund-raising scandal, she had turned the act from a sword to make sure high-level wrongdoing is addressed to a shield from prosecution of wrongdoing…."

Right Magazine 2/99 John Bender ".The word is out. Janet Reno is going to investigate Judge Starr. Of course there is no evidence that Judge Starr did anything wrong but that will not stop Janet Reno and her politicized department from going after him. Janet Reno's Justice Department is the most corrupt Justice Department in the history of the nation. Under Janet Reno, the Justice Department was turned into protectors of criminals within the administration and button men going after political opponents of the Clintons. Reno and the political hacks she placed in high positions within the department, refuse to investigate administration officials even when there is ample evidence of their crimes. The list includes Peter Knight, former Campaign Manager of the Clinton-Gore Reelection Campaign, even though the House Committee on Commerce sent Justice detailed evidence of crimes. She also refused to seriously investigate or indict Harold Ickes even though the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs provided evidence he committed perjury. Reno's Justice Department even refused to take any action on Al Gore's illegal campaign fund raising. She refused to act even though there is videotape of Gore breaking the law at a Buddhist temple and documentary evidence he made illegal phone calls. Chris Darden and Marsha Clark could win the case against Gore. There is also no indication the Reno Justice Department is going to take any action against Cheryl Mills even though the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight sent Ms. Reno a massive amount of evidence that she committed perjury. They have not even bothered responding to the Committee on the status of the referral. .."

The Landmark Legal Foundation 2/13/99 Mark R . Levin , President [ L.L.F. ] ". Landmark ' s Application for Judicial Notice and Writ of Prohibition on the Justice Department ' s Investigation of Kenneth W . Starr ". UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Special Division , for the Purpose of the Appointment of Independent Counsels the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 , As Amended .. Ms. Reno's aides have said that investigative authority is implied bylanguage in the independent counsel statute, which gives the Attorney General the sole responsibility to remove an independent prosecutor.. When Starr testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 19 of last year, he was asked by the chief counsel for the minority, Abbe D. Lowell, about the "substantial contacts" that Starr had had with Jones lawyers. In a series of questions, Lowell tried to suggest that Starr should have revealed the contacts to the Justice Department in January 1998, and that Richard W. Porter, a partner of Starr's at the law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, had declined a request to represent Ms. Jones.."

The Wall Street Journal 2/15/99 Op-Ed Freeper the Raven ".The Justice Department is the San Andreas fault of the Clinton Administration, quaking for example with Janet Reno's appointment as the third woman after Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, the summary firing of 93 U.S. Attorneys, the installation of Webster Hubbell as Associate Attorney General, Ms. Reno's reappointment after a woodshed chat with the President, and the rejection of the Louis Freeh and Charles La Bella recommendations for an independent counsel for campaign finance. Now Mr. Clinton, equipped with a get-out-of-jail-free card from the U.S. Senate, is on the brink of turning Justice from his shield into his sword....That is the clear meaning of the departmental investigation of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's handling of Monica Lewinsky. Ms. Reno is point person for an attack intended to delegitimize the impeachment, Mr. Starr and the Lewinsky issue. The notion is that if Mr. Starr violated some Marquess of Queensberry rule, then there was no obstruction, there was no perjury, there was no blue dress."

SOFTWAR 2/15/99 ".Whitewater and the Chinese Army share one thing in common, Webster Hubbell. Assistant Attorney General Webster Hubbell was in charge of a top secret information warfare project that was penetrated by spies of communist China. In 1993, Webster Hubbell ran the Clipper project, a special computer security chip designed by the National Security Agency (NSA). Hubbell was assigned to the project by Attorney General Janet Reno. In January 1999, the FBI released a 1993 letter from then FBI Director Sessions to General Reno confirming Hubbell's work on the secret Clipper project. The Dept. of Justice has refused to release further documents on Webster Hubbell. The government denial is currently under appeal.. Hillary Clinton's close relationship with the Chinese Army is far more well documented. The First Lady was clearly involved with Chinese agent Johnny Chung and the penetration of Col. Lui of COSTIND. Mrs. Clinton helped John Huang obtain his secret cleared job at the Brown Commerce Dept. Mrs. Clinton shared secret contract work with the NSA and Hubbell when they worked at the Rose Office law firm. Mrs. Clinton brought Webster Hubbell into the Dept. of Justice.. Two weeks after the Lippo money was given to Mr. Hubbell, John Huang got his job at the Commerce Department as Assistant Secretary. Huang's position determined technology transfers that went to places such as Indonesia and Communist China. Mr. Huang and his wife have both taken the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify at Senate Congressional hearings... The Clinton administration claims to have canceled the Clipper project but events suggest otherwise. The recent outing of the "exploitable" feature of the Intel Pentium 3 is hardly a coincidence. Was the secret Intel feature a marketing ploy by some unseen executive or a paid secret project through the Clinton administration? .Ms. Reno does not want you to see Sanford Robertson and his direct payoffs to Senator Feinstein, Vice President Gore and Bill Clinton. General Reno does not want you to hear about Johnny Chung, Hillary Clinton and Col. Lui of COSTIND inside the White House. General Reno certainly does not want to you to know about the PLA penetration of the Dept. of Justice through Webster Hubbell.."

Arkansas Democratic-Gazette 2/14/99 Paul Greenberg Freeper Stand Watch Listen ".There is a great deal of talk these blase' days about junking independent counsels rather than just trying to impose some limits on them. Trials and investigations are such a bother when the economy is booming. But there's really no need to abolish the independent counsel statute so long as Reno is attorney general. With her on the job, it'll never be used anyway. At least not if anybody important is involved.."

Original Sources 3/9/99 Mary Mostert "… In 1996 Bill Clinton told reporters he was "not told about the June 1996 FBI warnings of Communist Chinese involvement in the 1996 presidential election." However, it was later learned that president Clinton not only KNEW about it, but that he subsequently made a thwarted attempt to obtain the counterintelligence information about what the FBI had learned of the Communist Chinese influence on the presidential election in November of 1996. Charles Ruff, Clinton legal counsel who most recently defended him in the Senate Impeachment trial, made the FBI contact. Ruff contacted Janet Reno's deputy Jamie Gorelick and wanted to know what federal investigators knew or suspected about Chinese illegal contributions to the presidential campaign. However, when FBI director Freeh learned of the White House probe by Gorelick, he ordered the information not be provided to Clinton, federal law enforcement officials told the Daily Republican in 1997. In a New York Times story Ruff was quoted as telling Gorelick he was seeking the information on behalf of the National Security Council…. However, law enforcement officials pointed out that Ruff's request was received only after FBI director Freeh had left Washington on a trip to the Middle East. In his absence, attorney general Janet Reno and Gorelick quickly moved to obtain the secret FBI files. Before the Justice Department turned over the FBI files to Clinton's legal counsel, Robert Bryant, then head of the FBI national security division, picked up the telephone and informed Freeh of Clinton's probe for the secret files on the Chinese investigation. Freeh ordered the files withheld. And people wonder how come the Senate of the United States was never able to get Janet Reno to obey the law of the land and appoint an independent counsel to investigate the Chinese money that helped get Clinton and Gore elected…."

Washington Times and Landmark Legal Foundation 3/11/99 Mark R Levin and Pete Hutchison Freeper Michele Shelton "…For weeks, "government attorneys" from the Justice Department have been leaking selectively negative information about the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr in an attempt to build support for an investigation of that office. On February 11, 1999, Landmark Legal Foundation asked the three-judge panel that oversees the appointment of independent counsels, i.e., the Special Division, to resolve a straight-forward yet critical question: does the Attorney General have the statutory power to investigate the official conduct of an independent counsel? Landmark contends that she does not and requested that the Special Division issue of writ of prohibition stopping her….Disposing of Judge Starr’s argument first, Landmark was not seeking party status. Indeed, Landmark’s status in this matter is wholly irrelevant as this is not a case where the Special Division is adjudicating the rights of parties. Rather, the Special Division is exercising its own traditional and statutory powers to ensure the integrity of the independent counsel investigative process. Neither the Attorney General nor the Independent Counsel can decide for the Special Division how its responsibilities are to be met. The Special Division is the only true party and it is free to raise, among other things, jurisdictional questions on its own. …The more important issue for the Special Division’s consideration is Miss Reno’s attempt to expand her statutory authority so broadly as to eviscerate the very purpose of the Independent Counsel Act. The Act, which was reauthorized in 1994 with Miss Reno’s enthusiastic support, is intended to ensure the independent criminal investigation of "covered" individuals, i.e., senior executive branch officials, such as the President. The law expressly limits the Attorney General’s supervisory power to removing the independent counsel for "good cause, physical or mental disability. …"….

The entire purpose of the independent counsel law is to preclude an attorney general from investigating, among others, the person for whom she works – namely, the President. If she possesses the power to investigate an independent counsel’s prosecutorial judgments, and look into virtually any allegation by a defendant or a witness against an independent counsel, the independent counsel ceases to be independent. The law is defeated. This is why the statute gives the independent counsel "full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions and powers of the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and any other office or employee of the Department of Justice."…"

 

New York Times 3/15/99 William Safire "…Why did the Justice Department's intelligence surveillance policy staff, which reports directly to Janet Reno, deny the F.B.I. authority to tap the telephone of its suspect, Wen Ho Lee, at Los Alamos in 1995? This was no mere Mafia drug bust; a Chinese document showed our most vital national-security secrets were threatened. Over three years, did F.B.I. Director Louis Freeh protest to Reno about this leave-him-alone decision? …"

Fox News 3/15/99 Jim Abrams AP "… The Senate is holding hearings this week on an alleged 1980s case of Chinese spying at the Energy Department's nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., that only recently came to light. In the House, members are demanding that nearly all of a classified 700-page report on technology transfers to China be made public. Administration officials stood their ground Sunday, saying they have dealt properly with the Los Alamos case and overall security threats to the nation. "I think we moved swiftly and I think we continue to impose on China the strictest controls,'' national security adviser Sandy Berger said on NBC's "Meet the Press.'' But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said President Clinton should appoint a onpartisan commission to investigate allegations that China stole nuclear warhead technology. The Justice Department "does not have credibility on this issue'' because Attorney General Janet Reno refused to seek an independent counsel investigation into illegal campaign contributions originating in China, he said on CBS' "Face the Nation.'' …"

 

Fox News Channel 3/17/99 Renee Schilhab "…Attorney General Janet Reno told a Senate committee on Wednesday that she had reversed course and no longer supports the independent counsel statute because the law is flawed at its core and creates a strong incentive for independent counsels "to do what prosecutors should not be artificially pushed to do — that is, to prosecute." … Thompson raised questions about fund raising by controversial Democratic contributor Charlie Trie and visits by Trie to the White House. Accusing the president of violating federal election laws, he said Clinton had accepted $62 million in public funding for his re-election effort after signing a declaration mandated by the Federal Election Commission that he would not accept additional campaign monies, and then going on to raise an additional $44 million that directly benefited his campaign. Reno defended her decision not to seek the appointment of an independent counsel in the case, saying, "I'm going to call it like I see it, the best way I can." But she grew testy at Thompson's reference to Trie. "Let me say something here, because it really, really troubles me," Reno said. "This is the fourth or fifth hearing I've testified at where there have been passing references to visitors attending White House functions and circumstances having no connection with the original question. It is these types of questions that create so much confusion about the independent counsel statute." …"


Hearst news service 3/18/99 Mark Helm "…Attorney General Janet Reno, who has argued against renewing the Independent Counsel Act, took strong criticism Wednesday from two senators, a Democrat and a Republican, for refusing to name a special prosecutor to probe possible campaign finance violations. ``The decision you made on campaign finance shows me that we still need some type of independent counsel law,'' Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., told Reno at a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the future of the statute. Last December, Reno said she found no reasonable grounds to seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate President Clinton's role in the multimillion dollar Democratic fund-raising campaign in 1996. Her decision was made despite the urgings of FBI Director Louis Freeh and Charles LaBella, the former head of the Justice Department's campaign finance task force, to appoint a special prosecutor to probe the issue. Committee Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., said he could not understand why Reno, who has recommended the appointment of seven independent counsels during her six-year term, seemed so reluctant to move on the possible campaign finance violations. ``In some cases you have quickly called for an independent counsel, but in other cases that I believe cry out for a special prosecutor, you don't,'' he said. …"

The Chicago Sun-Times 3/18/99 Robert Novak "…A seat at the Feb. 25 White House state dinner honoring the president of Ghana was filled by investment banker and civil rights pioneer Ernest F. Green, invited as a prominent African American by his good friend and fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton. Now, not even a month later, Chairman Dan Burton of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee has sent Attorney General Janet Reno a referral alleging that Green misled Congress about his contributions to the 1996 Democratic campaign. Green, the Washington-based managing director of public finance at Lehman Brothers, contributed $50,000 to the party. He denied under oath for the first time two years ago that any of these funds were supplied by the notorious Charlie Trie. But Republican House investigators have found $2,000 in travelers checks given to Green by Trie, which they see as the tip of the iceberg. Writing to Reno this week, Burton noted Green's intimacy with the president and added: "I hope that you can conduct this investigation with the vigor and impartiality that it deserves. . . . I hope that you will devote careful attention to this matter to determine whether Mr. Green should be prosecuted for his false statements." This poses a new test for Reno, who has refused to call special prosecutors for campaign scandal allegations while her Justice Department investigations have yielded little. Green is the only close associate of Trie--the indicted restaurant-owner-turned-global-entrepreneur--to testify to Congress. Another 121 prospective witnesses either have fled the country or invoked the Fifth Amendment. Green denied being a "conduit contributor" for illegal money raised abroad by Trie. Indeed, he swore he never received "any money" from Trie…."


3/12/99 Letter from Dan Burton to Janet Reno "…The Committee’s investigation of the activities of Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie has involved a review of Mr. Trie’s relationship with Ernest G. Green. Mr. Green was one of Trie’s main business and fundraising contacts between 1994 and 1996. During his depositions before this Committee and the Senate, Mr. Green made several false statements regarding his relationship with Mr. Trie which raise concerns warranting investigation. Therefore, I am referring this matter to you for investigation by the Campaign Financing Task Force….Mr. Green’s misleading statements to the Committee concealed crucial elements of his relationship with Charlie Trie, a close friend of the President who has already been indicted by your Campaign Financing Task Force. Green and Trie were close associates whose relationship included private business ventures, foreign travel, and political fundraising. Trie was central to the Committee’s investigation, and accordingly, Green was an important figure in the investigation as well, as he was one of few Trie associates who had not fled the country or invoked his Fifth Amendment rights…Green was acquainted with both Trie and his Macau-based benefactor, Ng Lap Seng, having been introduced to them by Jude Kearney, a high-level Commerce Department official. Green met with Trie and Ng to explore the possibility of lending the support of his employer, Lehman Brothers, to a real estate project backed by Ng in Macau called the Nam Van Lakes project….Green traveled with Trie to Asia on two occasions: first, in the summer of 1995, and then again in the fall of 1995. Both times, Green traveled at the expense of Ng and Trie, and Green claims that the purpose of the trips was to inspect the Nam Van Lakes project….During his second trip to Asia, in October 1995, Green attended a dinner held at the Hong Kong Shangri-La Hotel in honor of Secretary Ron Brown. In news accounts, several of the foreign guests at the dinner stated that they were solicited by Charlie Trie and Antonio Pan to contribute to the DNC…Green was involved in arranging to have Charlie Trie and Wang Jun attend a February 6, 1996, fundraising coffee with President Clinton. Wang is the head of CITIC, a major Chinese conglomerate which was under investigation for smuggling illegal weapons into the United States. President Clinton later stated that it was "clearly inappropriate" for Wang to visit the White House…. Green made two large contributions to the DNC in 1996, and DNC records indicate that Charlie Trie solicited both contributions. The first was made by Green on February 6, 1996, and the second was made on March 8, 1996…. "

Washington Times 3/23/99 Sean Scully Freeper Rodger Schultz "…A Justice Department written statement argued that the department's internal figures show a far smaller decline in gun prosecutions. The department said that prosecutions have, in fact, dropped from 6,763 in 1992 to 4,529 last year…"

AP 3/22/99 Pete Yost "…The head of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's Arkansas office testified Monday for the second time in less than a week, outlining an unsubstantiated allegation that Webster Hubbell, a friend of the Clintons, may have tried to stop an investigation while a Justice Department official. Subpoenaed as a witness in a civil lawsuit, Starr deputy Hickman Ewing Jr. testified about a meeting initiated last year by Mike Salem, a disgruntled former employee of the Lane poultry company that was purchased by Tyson Foods more than a decade ago….. Appearing on the witness stand for a half-hour before Pulaski County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Brantley, Ewing testified that Salem repeatedly brought up Hubbell's name in meeting with him last May 27. He said Salem suggested that Starr's office look into Hubbell's activities at the Justice Department at a time when ``elements of the department'' were looking into the actions of the Lane trustees. ``Salem wanted to make us aware'' that ``Hubbell had been at the Justice Department'' and that ``what had happened up there needed investigating,'' Ewing testified…."

UPI 3/23/99 "…A Pentagon official told a Senate panel that the Defense Department will turn over its local-level "first responder" training for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons attacks to the Justice Department by Oct. 1, 2000…The transfer of the first responder program will allow local police and fire departments to have "one-stop shopping," getting all their domestic crisis response equipment and training from Justice. Under the new proposal, the Pentagon would continue to provide crisis-response support through the National Guard and reserves…."

New York Times 3/24/99 James Risen "…In spring 1997, Los Alamos National Laboratory chose a scientist who was already under investigation as a suspected spy for China to run a sensitive new nuclear weapons program, several senior Government officials say. The scientist, Wen Ho Lee, eager for the new post, asked that he be allowed to hire a research assistant, the officials said. Once in the new position, in charge of updating computer software for nuclear weapons, Lee hired a post-doctoral researcher who was a citizen of the People's Republic of China, intelligence and law-enforcement officials said. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation had said that a wiretap on Lee, a computer expert born in Taiwan who is an American citizen, would allow the bureau to keep close tabs on him in the new position, the bureau never won approval for the electronic monitoring, the officials said. Now, two years later, Lee has been fired for security breaches at Los Alamos and senior Government officials say he remains a suspect in the F.B.I.'s continuing investigation of allegations that China stole nuclear secrets from America's weapons laboratories…. And the research assistant has disappeared….The F.B.I., which opened a criminal investigation into the spy case in June 1996, gave its approval when Los Alamos officials decided to give Lee the new position, intelligence and law-enforcement officials say. Clinton Administration officials said that Lee's new posting was approved in part because they believed his access to information would be "controlled." In the new job "he only had access to material he already had in his head," said one official. "He couldn't see the latest stuff." The bureau also assured laboratory officials and the Department of Energy, which owns the weapons labs, that it would keep close watch on Lee in his new job, and would seek approval for a secret wiretap to monitor his telephone conversations. But officials now say that the bureau's requests for a secret wiretap were repeatedly turned down by Justice Department officials who did not believe they had sufficient grounds to take to a Federal court to obtain the authorization for the wiretap…."

WORLD Magazine 3/27/99 "… The spy scandal has given new urgency to the long-held belief that Attorney General Janet Reno was covering for the president when she refused to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the Peoples Liberation Army donations and other campaign-finance abuses. To bypass the intractable attorney general, Mr. McCain called for a blue-ribbon panel, similar to the one that investigated the Iran-Contra arms deal, to look further into charges of Chinese influence peddling and spying…."

Investors Business Daily 3/30/99 "… It's almost too fantastic to believe. But evidence has surfaced that the administration may have turned a blind eye toward Red Chinese espionage - if not actually abetted it. The lethal drama unfolding in Kosovo has helped keep the charges that Red China stole nuclear secrets out of the spotlight. But some journalists - in particular Jeff Gerth and James Risen of The New York Times - have made some very disturbing discoveries. Not only did the Clinton administration take its sweet time in investigating the alleged theft after learning of it, there's reason to believe that the Justice Department failed to follow its usual procedures in overseeing the FBI probe of the matter. The result? The Chinese have a vastly improved missile force and no one has been held accountable….. As part of the probe, the bureau requested a wiretap on Lee. Justice denied it, arguing it did not have sufficient grounds to take to a federal court to get the tap approved. But a look at the Justice Department's record on wiretaps calls that argument into serious question. From 1993 to 1997, federal officials requested 2,686 wiretaps. For all its concern for probable cause and legal standards, the Justice Department turned down one request in those four years - Lee's in 1996. The Clinton administration's defense that it had few grounds to wiretap Lee might carry weight if most of the wiretaps Justice OK'd resulted in incriminating evidence. That would suggest Justice was setting and meeting high standards for wiretaps.

But again the record suggests Justice is talking through its hat. In 1997, 21.4% of federal wiretaps produced incriminating information. Indeed, through the first four years of Clinton's term, only one in five wiretaps revealed shady actions. Yet in the case of Lee and alleged Chinese espionage, the department seems to think that it needed cold proof of illegal activity before approving a wiretap. Several conclusions can be drawn from this case, each one more and more incredible. One is that key officials in the Clinton administration are incredibly naive. Another is that they are criminally incompetent. Both answers are plausible, given this administration. But it's not too big a leap to ask if some officials were more than naive or incompetent. Were they intentionally ignorant? Did the push for campaign cash in 1996 - some of it coming from Chinese sources - take precedence over national security? An even more disturbing speculation is that someone in the administration was actively working for the Red Chinese. Sure, it sounds like a Tom Clancy novel. But why did Justice deny the wiretap request? Why did the Energy Department promote Lee to a spot where he could learn more secrets? How did a Chinese national get hired for such a sensitive job? The administration has its hands full now with Kosovo. But it must not be allowed to duck these questions on Red China's espionage…."

CNS/Softwar 4/1/99 Bruce Sullivan Charles Smith "...The Department of Justice approved 748 applications for electronic surveillance or physical searches in 1997. It denied only one. The FBI's request to wiretap Wen Ho Lee, a computer scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, who has since been fired amid suspicions of espionage at the laboratory. The wiretap was denied despite Attorney General Janet Reno's admission that there was "probable cause to believe the target to be an agent of a foreign power," according to Justice Department documents.

"In one case, although satisfied as to the probable cause to believe the target to be an agent of a foreign power, the court declined to approve ther application," wrote Reno in a letter to L. Ralph Mecham, Director, Administrative Office of the United States Courts dated April 29, 1998. When Lee was given a sensitive new job at the Los Alamos facility, which conducts top-secret nuclear research, the FBI suspected him of espionage and only approved his assignment, with the stipulation that they would seek a wiretap authorization from the Department of Justice. The DoJ denied the request on the grounds that the evidence against Lee was too old. The government has filed a motion to withdraw the case as it has become moot," said Reno in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNS...."

 

The Oklahoman 4/7/99 Dan Thomasson "…Senate and House investigations had revealed that Chung visited the White House at least 50 times and escorted a number of Chinese associates to White House events with the Clintons. It would be tough for the average American to get there once, but money talks and Chung has talked plenty. According to reports by the Los Angeles Times, Chung and the intelligence official got together through a woman friend of Chung's who also was (imagine this) a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army. Well, wonderful. But it just so happened all this was going on at a time when the White House appeared to be moving rather slowly on information that the Chinese might have been stealing U.S. missile technology and that the main thief was still in place at the Los Alamos, N.M., laboratories. The initial theft took place in 1988, but the Clinton administration has been accused of taking only tentative steps toward cleaning up the mess and tightening security…..The Chinese spying case is expected to become a major problem for the White House as Congress awaits the release of a House committee report and new hearings. With these new elements, the whole campaign funding affair cries out for the appointment of an independent counsel. But Attorney General Janet Reno has made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of losing control of the investigation….."

Manchester Union Leader 4/14/99 Richard Lessner "…All of this makes Mr. Clinton's dealings with Beijing deeply suspect, especially as his Justice Department continues to drag its feet investigating the Chinagate scandal. Is it any wonder that the Clinton dealings with China have the odor of appeasement? No matter how egregious China's behavior, Mr. Clinton appears determined to reward Beijing…."

 

AP 4/11/99 "...CIA technicians found 31 secret files in the unsecured personal computer at the home of the former Director John Deutch shortly after he stepped down as the nation's top spy, it was reported Sunday. The Central Intelligence Agency turned the case over to the Justice Department, which investigated for a year before deciding not to file charges, Newsweek magazine said. The Justice Department returned the case to the CIA, which Newsweek said was preparing a critical report and considering revocation of Deutch's security clearances..... Quoting Justice Department sources, the magazine said Deutch's mishandling of classified material came to light shortly after he resigned in December 1996. He was to continue as a consultant..... During the Justice Department investigation, Deutch was reappointed to a federal panel that studies how to combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and was given top security clearances, Newsweek said...."

A.P. 4/11/99 William Mann "...``Nowadays, the ability of Congress to really find out anything substantive in congressional hearings has been very, very limited.'' ....Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said the hearing process has degenerated to little more than committee members revealing what their staffs have found out. ``The media's short attention span, the partisanship that we have and all of that makes it so that you can kind of lay out and demonstrate what you already have,'' Thompson said on ``Fox News Sunday. ``But finding something out is very, very difficult.'' ``What we've relied on in this country for years and years ... is a strong prosecution team, an independent counsel, a special counsel, or a Justice department who's aggressive,'' Thompson said. ``That produces people who want to make deals, who want to talk.'' But, he said: ``That hasn't happened in this case. The real scandal in this case (his committee's investigation) emanates from the Justice Department more than anything else.'' ....."

ConservativeNews.org 4/13/99 Ben Anderson "...House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-IL) has written letters to President Bill Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, in another attempt to win their cooperation to determine the extent of Chinese influence in the 1996 elections. Burton's latest attempt is rekindling flames in a campaign finance investigation launched two years ago, but delayed by 121 witnesses fleeing the country or refusing to testify and by White House assertions of executive privilege. Following-up on Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji's commitment last week to "cooperate" with an investigation of illegal campaign contributions, Burton wrote to the Premier asking for the Chinese government's cooperation on two levels: Interviews with would-be witnesses and bank records of wire transfers to Charlie Trie and Johnny Chung, both Democratic National Committee donors. When committee investigators applied for visas in January 1998, to interview witnesses in China, Embassy officials in Washington said they were under orders from the Chinese Foreign Ministry to deny visas pertaining to a congressional investigation. "My staff was further informed that anyone who attempted to travel to China or Hong Kong to conduct interviews in this investigation would be arrested," Burton wrote in his letter to Zhu. According to Burton, the committee has "received little or no cooperation" in obtaining "information about wire transfers from the Bank of China to key figures" in the fundraising investigation....With media reports of Chung's testimony before Federal investigators and Zhu's visit as a backdrop, Burton asked Reno for help in making Chung available to testify before the Committee. Despite reaching a plea agreement with Chung more than one year ago, the Justice Department has failed to bring about one indictment, Burton notes. "Recent media reports have suggested that the Task Force's work has ground to a halt," Burton said, referring to Fox News Channel's report that Reno had essentially approved of keeping the case open simply for political expediency, but allowing the work of the investigation to stall...."

Judicial Watch Press Release 4/09/99 "...Today, in the wake of reemerging revelations about Chinagate, The Wall Street Journal reported: "The upshot is that, 2 1/2 years after the Justice Department's investigation of alleged campaign finance abuses began, its workload has slackened considerably and some cases are stuck in neutral. At one point there were 120 prosecutors, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and others working on the department's campaign finance task force. That number has dwindled to fewer than 90, and the bulk of them aren't working on the case full-time anymore." With only eight lawyers, Judicial Watch - which, in the words of Representative Bob Barr, has uncovered about 65% of what Americans now know about the Clinton scandals, including Chinagate -- has accomplished more than the Reno Justice Department.... Judicial Watch's Interim Report (see www.judicialwatch.org) urged Congress to include Chinagate in its impeachment inquiry. Congressman Bob Barr and House investigator Dave Schippers supported this, but the rush to end the impeachment inquiry precluded this....."

Wall Street Journal 4/9/99 David Cloud Phil Kuntz "...Even as Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji visits President Clinton here, the steam is going out of one of their biggest problems: the federal investigation into whether China hatched an elaborate plot to funnel money into the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election effort. Justice Department and congressional investigators have uncovered significant evidence that funds from China wound up in Democratic National Committee coffers. But law-enforcement officials think the evidence more strongly suggests uncoordinated efforts by business entrepreneurs who have prominent party or government positions, rather than a Chinese government plot. Even if there were such a plot, law-enforcement officials now seem to have concluded that there is little point in charging those responsible in China, because there is little chance they would ever be turned over to U.S. custody. That leaves the matter in the hands of U.S. counterintelligence officials... Sen. Thompson is especially scornful of skepticism by law-enforcement officials about what his committee dubbed the "China Plan" to funnel money to the Clinton campaign. He concedes that there is no evidence indicating that each step of the alleged conspiracy was directed by Chinese President Ziang Zemin. But he adds, "We know how the Chinese government operates -- through various companies. Practically everything is the government over there." ....But prosecutors have run into unexpected problems in two of the major cases, those of Little Rock, Ark., businessman Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie and Los Angeles immigration consultant Maria Hsia, both Democratic fund-raisers. Federal District Judge Paul Friedman has dismissed several counts against both of them, ruling that U.S. law doesn't prohibit foreigners from contributing "soft money" -- that is, unregulated donations to help build up political parties -- as it does "hard money" used to directly influence an election. He also has thrown out charges alleging the defendants caused false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission..... The biggest remaining mystery of the case is whether DNC fund-raiser John Huang, whose attempts to tap Asian-American donors helped to ignite the scandal, will ever be charged. In seclusion since the first days of the scandal, Mr. Huang may soon be heard from again: Judicial Watch, a conservative group with a number of civil suits pending against the Clinton administration, has subpoenaed him to appear next week to give a deposition in a related suit it has filed against the Clinton administration...."

AP 4/10/99 "…FBI agents executed a search warrant Saturday at the New Mexico home of a scientist fired from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory under suspicion he passed nuclear weapons secrets to China, federal and law enforcement sources said. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson confirmed the warrant was executed in ``the ongoing investigation of alleged espionage,'' but he would not say where. But three other sources said the warrant raid was on the residence of Taiwan-born American Wen Ho Lee, who was fired last month….The sources would not describe what may have been confiscated but said the search was part of an effort by the FBI and the Energy Department to determine whether criminal charges should be brought…Richardson stressed that nobody has been charged, and FBI sources have cautioned in the past that charges might never be filed in the case…."

Reuters 4/25/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno said Sunday that authorities investigating last week's Colorado school massacre would try to establish what the parents of the two youthful perpetrators knew of their sons' intentions. Interviewed on NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' Reno said: ``It is important that we identify who is responsible for them having guns, what the parents knew or should have known, and take appropriate steps.'' ..."

Reuters 4/25/99 Dan Whitcomb "...The parents of the two gunmen who killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at a high school could face prosecution, Colorado's governor said Sunday after investigators found clear evidence of the massacre's planning in the bedroom of one of the assailants. "I think that perhaps charges will be filed and certainly should be filed" against the parents if the evidence is confirmed, Republican Gov. Bill Owens said on Fox News Sunday. Investigators "found in one of the gunman's homes clear evidence out, sitting in the room, of what was about to happen," said Owens. He did not say specifically what the parents could be charged with....Attorney General Janet Reno also said Sunday that investigators would probe who gave the two teen-aged gunmen their weapons and "what the parents knew or should have known." Any adult could be charged as an accomplice if he or she gave weapons to the perpetrators, said Owens....."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Unsigned "...The latest Chinese nuclear-espionage bombshell has just exploded, sending shrapnel throughout Janet Reno's Justice Department. It involves the downloading of millions of lines of computer code detailing the history of U.S. nuclear-weapons development from highly classified computer systems to a widely accessible computer network. The downloading, most of which occurred during 1994 and 1995, was done by Energy Department scientist Wen Ho Lee. The FBI has uncovered evidence suggesting that someone accessed these supersecret files after Mr. Lee placed them in the unclassified network. For several years, the Justice Department obstructed the FBI's efforts to detect Mr. Lee's downloading activities.....Senior managers at the Los Alamos nuclear-weapons laboratory, which is run by the Energy Department, will soon be disciplined for their failure to monitor Mr. Lee's activities while he was under suspicion of espionage. But Attorney General Reno's Justice Department is far more culpable for this catastrophic national-security debacle. Time and again, the New York Times reports, the Justice Department declined to pursue FBI requests for wiretaps. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy Review would have been required to petition a special court to obtain either a wiretap of Mr. Lee's phone or to gain surreptitious access to his office computer. Despite Mr. Lee's role as the principal espionage suspect, Miss Reno's Justice Department declined a 1997 FBI request for a wiretap and surreptitious access to Mr. Lee's office computer. Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy Review maintained there was insufficient evidence for it to seek the necessary court permission The FBI appealed that decision to Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, the second-highest Justice Department official. Mr. Holder also denied the request to pursue the wiretaps. It's worth recalling that in 1997, while President Clinton was pursuing his "strategic partnership" with China, not only was the FBI investigating Chinese nuclear espionage but congressional committees and an incompetent Justice Department task force were investigating Mr. Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign and the Democratic Party for receiving laundered money from the Chinese Communist government. Miss Reno repeatedly refused to seek an independent counsel, despite a 1997 recommendation to do so by FBI Director Louis Freeh. Meanwhile, her deputy and other Justice officials were refusing to act on FBI requests to obtain wiretaps that would have uncovered Mr. Lee's unauthorized downloading of the secrets of 50 years of U.S. nuclear-weapons development. Normally, the Justice Department favorably responds to FBI requests for such wiretaps in 99.9 percent of the 700 or so requests it receives each year. Why the issue of Chinese nuclear espionage was given a free pass by Justice wiretap gatekeepers is worth knowing...."

New York Times 4/29/99 Eric Schmitt "...Senior lawmakers expressed outrage and frustration on Wednesday over the government's failure to monitor a scientist suspected of spying for China, who officials now say may have given away secrets to virtually every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal. After a three-hour closed hearing, the Republican chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, criticized witnesses from the Energy Department, CIA and FBI for not taking responsibility for lax security at Government laboratories..... The witnesses were two Energy Department officials, Notra Trulock, acting deputy director of intelligence, and Ed Curran, counterintelligence director; Robert Walpole, a senior CIA official, and Neil Gallagher, assistant director of the FBI national security division.... The information, which Lee, who was born in Taiwan, transferred mainly in 1994 and 1995, was apparently accessed by someone after the files had been placed in the unclassified network, officials said..... Lawmakers said on Wednesday that those assurances were wrong. "This clearly points out a situation where we have the utmost secret, national security weaponry blueprints, and oversight that's not working," Murkowski said. "During this time frame there were some inexcusable lapses of accountability."... "It's inconceivable to the average person that Wen Ho Lee would not be watched closely after being suspected of espionage and be returned to an area of our most top guarded secrets," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who heads the Intelligence Committee, said in an interview. A Justice Department official acknowledged missteps in handling the FBI request, which career prosecutors never knew about. "People in the criminal division," the official said, "would liked to have been consulted early on, and it didn't happen in this case." ..."

LA Times 4/29/99 Bob Drogin "...The FBI plans to arrest suspected spy Wen Ho Lee on charges related to the transfer to China of top-secret nuclear weapon computer programs and data into an insecure computer over a 12-year period, a senior Clinton administration official said Wednesday. The official said the FBI is "reasonably close" to making a case and expects to arrest Lee within 10 days on charges of unauthorized disclosure of highly classified material..... The FBI only discovered the transfer of the massive computer files in late March, and officials said it appeared to be the most solid evidence yet linking Lee to possible espionage.... Richardson is expected to discipline several Los Alamos and Energy Department officials in the next few days as a result of an internal probe into the Lee case. The probe has attempted to determine why Lee was allowed to work in classified areas at Los Alamos until last year, and why he kept his classified security clearance until shortly before he was dismissed. The FBI first identified Lee, who was born in Taiwan but is a naturalized American, as a possible Chinese agent in 1996. Agents did not interview him, however, until late last year, and were unable to obtain a search warrant for his home and other property until earlier this month.... "

Washington Post 4/30/99 Walter Pincus& Vernon Loeb "...Amid new allegations of questionable activity by an espionage suspect at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Congress erupted in complaints yesterday about FBI and Justice Department handling of security breaches and possible espionage by China at the nation's nuclear weapons laboratories. After grilling FBI Director Louis J. Freeh for nearly three hours in a closed-door hearing, members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from both parties appeared equally outraged at what they depicted as lax handling o f past and present investigations into suspected leaks of classified data. Their concern was aroused in particular by Freeh's testimony that the suspect, Wen Ho Lee, had been cited for suspicious actions going back almost 20 years, according to congressional and administration sources. This information hit particularly hard because it came on top of the disclosure Tuesday that Lee had moved secret nuclear weapons data from a highly classified computer network to an unclassified system vulnerable to access by outsiders....Freeh's appearance included disclosure that Lee had a series of questionable activities documented in his security file going back to the early 1980s and continuing to 1994, according to the sources. "Any one of these should have led to lifting his security clearance years ago," one source said. Failure of the FBI almost 20 years ago to follow up on an intercepted telephone call was one critical focus of the session, according to administration and congressional sources. The call in the early 1980s, made by Lee, then a new Los Alamos employee, was to an individual at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory who was then suspected of having given neutron bomb secrets to the Chinese, according to sources. In it, Lee said, " 'I can help you -- I can tell you who ratted on you,' " one source said. The Livermore scientist, whose name is still classified, was permitted to resign in 1981, sources said. That case has never been closed, according to FBI sources...."

Rush Limbaugh Show 4/29/99 Freeper Newsman "... "One of the things that backs up what you say," Limbaugh noted, "is the discoveries that the FBI tried twice to wiretap Lee, but the Justice Department said "no." "They allowed every other wiretap, except the wiretap on him."

Houston Chronicle 4/29/99 William Safire "...Suspecting Lee at Los Alamos to be a spy for China, FBI agents in 1997 alerted the White House and went to the Department of Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy Review to request application to a special court for a wiretap under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But Acting Director Gerald Schroeder and his aide Alan Kornblum decided the evidence was insufficient and refused to apply. The FBI then went over Schroeder's head to the office of Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, and was turned down again. The FBI never returned with new evidence to Schroeder. Did Freeh appeal to Janet Reno about "overlawyering" in a national security case, or was he too browbeaten to try? The bureau learned that when it comes to China, Reno's Justice Department assigns only its most incompetent operatives and penalizes prosecutors who target Asian financing of the 1996 election. Consider: Justice makes some 700 court applications a year for taps under that surveillance law. Maybe once or twice a year, says a Justice intelligence official, it finally refuses the FBI's request that it apply. This case, involving an embarrassment to China when Clinton was proclaiming "strategic partnership," was the one..."

Houston Chronicle 4/29/99 William Safire "...Moreover, Congress should examine the ultra-gentle prosecution of a Los Alamos nuclear simulation scientist, Peter Lee, who was let off with a year in a halfway house. The sentencing judge was never told all Justice knew of his spying...."

Washington Post 4/29/99 Vernon Loeb and Walter Pincus "..."It's staggering - I'm still in shock here," said Robert S. Norris, a senior analyst and nuclear weapons expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "If someone had access to [Lee's] unclassified computer, this could be all over the world." Norris's colleague, physicist Matthew G. McKinzie, said that unauthorized access to those programs - so-called legacy codes used to simulate warhead detonations - would represent "an unprecedented act of espionage, in its scope. The espionage in the Manhattan Project [would] pale in comparison." .... The official said that a password was needed to access the information even after Lee transferred it from the classified computer system. The unclassified system allows investigators to determine when and whether the data was accessed, the official said, and initial indications are that the material was accessed "at least a little bit." Who was looking at it remains unclear, the official said, since Lee could have given his password to someone else. Another high-ranking official reported no indication that the information was compromised. He denied a published report of evidence showing a password had been misused to gain access. He also denied that the FBI had been derelict in not searching Lee's computer at the beginning of the espionage investigation in 1996. At the time, FBI agents from the bureau's Albuquerque field office wanted to search the computer but were told they needed a search warrant from a secret federal court under the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act. The warrant was denied, the official said, because of a lack of evidence showing that Lee was engaged in acts of espionage....As soon as FBI agents discovered Lee had transferred massive amounts of secret data to his unclassified computer, Richardson ordered a shutdown of the classified computer networks at Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories on April 2 for an extensive security overhaul. The FBI is still reviewing material taken from the search of Lee's home, some of it in Chinese...."

Softwar.com 4/27/99 Softwar.com (Charles Smith) "...The Galaxy New Technology deal went public in 1996, drawing a firestorm of press and a GAO report. According to the GAO, "Defense Department officials told us that broadband telecommunications equipment could be used to improve the Chinese military's command and control communications networks." In 1997, Congressman Hyde wrote Attorney General Reno a letter outlining his concerns about Galaxy New Technology. According to Congressman Hyde's letter to Reno, "In 1994, sophisticated telecommunications technology was transferred to a U.S.-Chinese joint venture called HUA MEI, in which the Chinese partner is an entity controlled by the Chinese military. This particular transfer included fiber-optic communications equipment which is used for high-speed, secure communications over long distances. Also included in the package was advanced encryption software." Despite the GAO, Congress and the public press reports, the honorable General Janet Reno did nothing...."

World Net Daily 4/27/99 Joseph Farah "..."We have a great opportunity right now," said Attorney General Janet Reno, a day after 13 children and a teacher were massacred at Columbine High in Littleton, Colo. What in the world did she mean "great opportunity"? Was it an opportunity for her bosses to get their mugs on TV? Was it an opportunity to dispense more federal money on meaningless programs to put counselors in the schools or to track potential student timebombs through Big Brother databases or to pump more mind-control drugs into government schools? Was it an opportunity to get the debacle of the Balkans aggression off the front pages, which was in turn an opportunity to get Chinagate off the front pages? Was it an opportunity to dispatch a "crisis response team" from Washington to Colorado to demonstrate how compassionate President Clinton is? Was it an opportunity to send $1.5 million in U.S. taxpayer money to pay for funerals and other costs associated with the tragedy? Was it an opportunity to fast-track the administration's plan to further restrict your inalienable right to bear arms? Or was it an opportunity to do all of the above? I'll tell you, I have never seen such shameless political exploitation of tragedy in my life as I have with the Columbine massacre.... A great opportunity, indeed. How many times did Clinton appear on television the day of the massacre? Does he think he's a TV newsman or the chief executive of the federal government? It may be hard for some to imagine or accept, but I am convinced that this whole evil Clinton administration actually looks upon incidents such as Columbine as opportunities. Janet Reno's verbal slip was simply a rare moment of candor and honesty from an administration best characterized by duplicity and deceit...."

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...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...A secret report [11/98 prepared by U. S. counterintelligence officials throughout the government] to top Clinton administration officials last November warned that China posed an "acute intelligence threat" to the government's nuclear weapons laboratories and that computer systems at the labs were being constantly penetrated by outsiders. Yet investigators waited until March to search the computer of a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who had been under investigation for nearly three years, suspected of spying for China. And it was not until April that the Energy Department shut down its classified computer systems to impose tighter security over their data. Meanwhile, in February, the scientist, Wen Ho Lee, tried to delete evidence that he had improperly transferred more than 1,000 files containing nuclear secrets, officials said. The classified report contains numerous warnings and specific examples showing that outsiders had gained access to the computer systems at U. S. weapons labs as recently as June 1998....The report was distributed to the highest levels of the government, including Bill Richardson, the secretary of energy; William Cohen, the secretary of defense; Janet Reno, the attorney general; President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, and three dozen other senior officials at law enforcement, defense and intelligence agencies. A government official gave a copy of the report to The New York Times. ... According to the report, the Energy Department recorded 324 attacks on its unclassified computer systems from outside the United States between October 1997 and June 1998, including instances when outsiders successfully gained "complete access and total control to create, view, modify or execute any and all information stored on the system." The document does not say where the computer attacks originated...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...The 25-page counterintelligence report contains many examples of lax security and serious intelligence breaches at the labs that have not been previously disclosed, involving more than a dozen foreign countries. Foreign spies "rightly view DOE as an inviting, diverse and soft target that is easy to access and that employs many who are willing to share information," the report states.....The report also singles out Russia and India as immediate threats. "China represents an acute intelligence threat to DOE," the report said, referring to the Department of Energy. "It conducts 'a full court press' consisting of massive numbers of collectors of all kinds, in the United States, in China, and elsewhere abroad. "China is an advanced nuclear power yet its nuclear stockpile is deteriorating," it continued. "As such, China has specifically targeted DOE for the collection of technical intelligence related to the design of nuclear weapons." The report concludes, "This effort has been very successful and Beijing's exploitation of U.S. national laboratories has substantially aided its nuclear weapons program." The report states that the maintenance of nuclear weapons, so-called "stockpile stewardship," is the area of most intense interest to China. Lee was at the center of Los Alamos' stockpile stewardship program for years...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...The report also includes detailed information about a number of incidents in which China could have obtained sensitive weapons information, as well as some of the ways the espionage could have taken place, including these: A Chinese scientist working at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, was able to send dozens of long, technical faxes to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, enabling the Chinese research center to duplicate Brookhaven experiments as they were being conducted. China might be using its exchanges with American scientists for espionage. Chinese intelligence officials have also arranged the visits of American scientists to China to "enable Chinese experts to assess and develop these contacts," according to the report. Thirty-seven Chinese intelligence officers have visited or been assigned to the labs and other Energy Department facilities over the last five years...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...The report also focuses on security breaches at the labs involving other countries, citing numerous incidents. For example, Russian intelligence has intercepted communications from Los Alamos concerning nuclear power plants used for military purposes. In addition, the report says that an unknown individual sent 38 faxes to India from inside a sensitive area of the Oak Ridge Laboratory, in Tennessee, during a 30-day period in 1995 and 1996. The report grew out of a comprehensive counterintelligence review prompted by an espionage investigation that came to focus on Lee in 1996...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...A select congressional committee sent the president additional warnings about the security of the weapons laboratories in a separate report that was also secretly delivered in January of this year. ..."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...The search of Lee's computer "should have happened earlier," Richardson said. But he defended waiting until April 2 to shut down the computer systems at the laboratory, saying: "It wouldn't have made much of a difference to have gone earlier." "The shutdown was the most extreme of measures," he said. After learning on March 30 that Lee had improperly moved vast amounts of nuclear secrets, Richardson said he decided to "speed up" plans adopted months earlier to improve computer security...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...In April 1996, Energy Department officials briefed Berger, then the deputy national security adviser, on the case and how it related to China's nuclear strategy. Berger took no action and did not inform the president of the matter, White House officials have said. The FBI meanwhile began a criminal inquiry. But little investigative work was done by FBI agents throughout the rest of 1996. In 1997, the Justice Department declined an FBI request to ask a court for authority to monitor Lee's phone and to gain access to Lee's office computer. Justice Department officials argued there was insufficient evidence to convince a judge to approve the surveillance. The FBI had asked the Energy Department not to move Lee from his job at Los Alamos, fearing this might alert him that he was a suspect. But the inquiry appeared to be stalled. In April 1997, the bureau's agents in Albuquerque, N.M., told Energy Department officials they could transfer Lee to a less sensitive job. But that message apparently never reached Energy Department officials in Washington, officials said. The job Lee was shifted to that month was one in which he was responsible for updating a computerized archive of nuclear secrets...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...In July 1997, Berger was briefed again. This time, the briefing included evidence that the Chinese were focusing on computer systems at Los Alamos, in particular computer simulations and codes for nuclear weapons, according to one U.S. official. At about the same time, officials at the Energy Department, the lab and the FBI were all also warned that the Chinese were attempting to gain access to computer systems at Los Alamos. The July discussion was also broader, including other security problems, the W-88 theft and other espionage cases, including one involving a scientist who had worked for weapons labs and their contractors, officials said....That scientist, Peter Lee (who is not related to Wen Ho Lee) later pleaded guilty to attempting to pass classified information in 1985 and making false statements about a trip to China in 1997. The November 1998 report cited his case as "a good example of China's use of cultural ties to collect successfully." After Berger's 1997 briefing, he discussed the matter with the president, and White House officials began to draft a presidential directive ordering better security at the laboratories, White House officials said. Meanwhile, the FBI's investigation of Wen Ho Lee continued without success...."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...In the summer of 1998, Chinese-American FBI agents, posing as Chinese spies, tried to establish a covert relationship with Lee, officials said. In their sting, what the FBI calls a "false flag" operation, the FBI agents called him, pretending to be Chinese spies checking up on Lee in the wake of Peter Lee's conviction earlier that year, officials said. Wen Ho Lee listened, and then called the agents back to refuse their offer to get together. ..."

New York Times 5/2/99 Jeff Gerth James Risen "...In November, the secret counterintelligence report was completed. Richardson, prodded both by Congress and by the mounting evidence of security problems, took action to screen foreign visitors to the labs, proposals that had lain dormant for years at the Energy Department. In December, Lee was subjected to a polygraph for the first time. During that first examination, for reasons that officials could not explain, investigators did not ask Lee to consent to a search of his office computer. Government attorneys had concluded that the earlier Justice Department denial for an FBI surreptitious search required Lee's permission to examine his office computer. In February, Lee took a second polygraph. This time, officials said, he was asked about his computer use and some of his answers were seen as deceptive. Two days later, apparently aware that investigators were now suspicious about his computer use, Lee deleted between 1,000 and 2,000 files, officials said. Lee's deletions involved millions of lines of computer codes he had downloaded, mostly in 1994 and 1995, from his classified computer system to an unclassified system. Such unclassified systems at the labs have been successfully attacked by outsiders, according to the 1998 intelligence report. In early March, Lee was interviewed by the FBI. During the interviews he gave permission for his computer to be searched. On March 8, he was fired from Los Alamos for security violations. Over the next few weeks, investigators pored through his computer records, recreated the deleted files and learned that Lee had downloaded computer data and codes that, in effect, were the distillation of more than a half-century of research on how to perfect nuclear weapons, officials said...."

The Associated Press 5/02/99 JIM ABRAMS "...National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston said Sunday that better pursuit of criminals, not new gun laws, is the best way to prevent a repeat of the Colorado high school shootings. An administration proposal to impose new background checks on gun purchasers, he said, ``smells of tyranny.'' ....But Heston insisted that ``the problem is not the availability of guns,'' but the failure of the Justice Department to enforce what he said are more than 2,000 laws controlling the sale and ownership of firearms...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "..... For several years, the Justice Department obstructed the FBI's efforts to detect Mr. Lee's downloading activities Mr. Lee, who was fired in March, emerged more than three years ago as the primary suspect in an espionage case in which China acquired design information about America's most sophisticated nuclear warhead, the W-88, which is deployed on the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "..... Energy Department counterintelligence officials identified Mr. Lee as a major suspect in February 1996, noting that his travels to China made him stick out "like a sore thumb." For reasons that are virtually impossible to fathom, however, the FBI did not learn of Mr. Lee's massive downloading activities until last month, more than three years after he became the primary suspect in an espionage case that the CIA's chief of counterintelligence regarded as "far more damaging to national security than [Soviet spy] Aldrich Ames." ..."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "...Attorney General Reno's Justice Department is far more culpable for this catastrophic national-security debacle. Time and again, the New York Times reports, the Justice Department declined to pursue FBI requests for wiretaps. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy Review would have been required to petition a special court to obtain either a wiretap of Mr. Lee's phone or to gain surreptitious access to his office computer. Despite Mr. Lee's role as the principal espionage suspect, Miss Reno's Justice Department declined a 1997 FBI request for a wiretap and surreptitious access to Mr. Lee's office computer. Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy Review maintained there was insufficient evidence for it to seek the necessary court permission The FBI appealed that decision to Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, the second-highest Justice Department official. Mr. Holder also denied the request to pursue the wiretaps...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "...in 1997, while President Clinton was pursuing his "strategic partnership" with China, not only was the FBI investigating Chinese nuclear espionage but congressional committees and an incompetent Justice Department task force were investigating Mr. Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign and the Democratic Party for receiving laundered money from the Chinese Communist government. Miss Reno repeatedly refused to seek an independent counsel, despite a 1997 recommendation to do so by FBI Director Louis Freeh...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "..... Meanwhile, her deputy and other Justice officials were refusing to act on FBI requests to obtain wiretaps that would have uncovered Mr. Lee's unauthorized downloading of the secrets of 50 years of U.S. nuclear-weapons development. Normally, the Justice Department favorably responds to FBI requests for such wiretaps in 99.9 percent of the 700 or so requests it receives each year. ...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "....The FBI finally discovered the downloaded computer code after searching Mr. Lee's office computer last month. Within days of his March 8 firing and after he failed a lie-detector test, Mr. Lee gave the FBI permission to search his office computer...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Editorial Board "..... Amazingly, however, even after the FBI made its startling discovery, the Justice Department delayed seeking court-ordered approval to search Mr. Lee's house. That search was finally conducted April 10, more than a month after Mr. Lee was fired...."

Reuters 5/2/99 "...The United States should brace for more "revelations'' on the China nuclear scandal, a senior U.S. lawmaker said Sunday. "The damage was bad, a lot worse than people ever imagined,'' said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on allegations China penetrated the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and obtained U.S. nuclear secrets. "I think there will be more revelations that will come out week after week.'' Shelby told "Fox News Sunday'' he hoped that China did not have "it all,'' but "I'm afraid they have a lot more than we ever dreamed they would have.''.... "It looks to me like this is a botched investigation by the FBI, and I think there is some culpability with the Justice Department,'' Shelby said. "I think the Justice Department treated this as an ordinary case when it should have been an extraordinary case.'' Shelby questioned why Justice investigators at one point did not approve a request from the FBI to secretly monitor Lee's computer and telephone. "They had a wake-up call. Maybe they didn't hear it,'' he said..... Shelby said China, which denies the spy assertions, is "so aggressive and so well connected all over America'' on U.S. nuclear technology matters. "I assume and I bet as we sit here, espionage or attempted espionage is going on.'' Asked if other nations, like Russia and India, had obtained U.S. nuclear secrets, Shelby said they were "trying.'' ....Shelby said it would take a long time to put meaningful security measures in place, and that he thought the FBI would eventually have to take over security at U.S. labs...."

Washington Weekly 5/2/99 RICKI MAGNUSSEN AND MARVIN LEE "...QUESTION: Considering that Johnny Chung has identified several channels of communication between the Chinese military and president Clinton, how close do you think that Clinton is to the Chinese military? TIMPERLAKE: Very close. Here's the reason why. Johnny Chung, who is a hustler, was picked because he figured out that the administration would take money for access. By our analysis, it looks like Chinese military intelligence saw that Johnny Chung was a clever fellow who knew how to work Bill Clinton. So Lieut. Col. Liu was assigned his case officer to recruit him. Her trade craft broke down, however, because in order to recruit Chung she brought him offshore and introduced Chung to Major General, I believe, Ji. And Ji is the famous fellow reported in the paper as saying: "We like your president" and he indicated that they had other individuals or channels of money. That happened several times. Now, General Ji reports to the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, a four star, who got there by providing agent provocateurs and discrediting the students who were at Tiananmen in 1989. That's what his job was, to get those poor kids. He's the gentleman who threatened to nuke Los Angeles over the Taiwan issue, that's the guy who did that. He is the ultimate spy master. His major general is general Ji, who met personally with Johnny Chung and Lieut. Col. Liu--by our count three times. They created a shell corporation called Marchwell to buy Lieut. Col. Liu access to President Clinton twice. And through a contribution to Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, she managed to meet the senior executive of the Securities and Exchange Commission about placing offerings on the American stock market of PRC companies. Now, I always thought that it was just about money, but it turns out that it was more than that. Apparently, the goal was to create a lot of shell companies in the import/export business and high-tech business so they could accomplish the goal of buying American high-tech equipment across the board, equipment like gyroscopes, computers and high tech communications equipment and flood them out of the country thereby overwhelming our safeguards, our Customs, the FBI and counter intelligence operations. So that was the goal and we don't know how successful she was because Chung is the only person of 122 people who has actually gone in front of the grand jury and (in our opinion) told the truth. That's a very powerful statement because the rest of them, if there were a strong law enforcement operation from the Justice Department, the conspiracy would have been broken by now and we would know how bad the damage was that was done to America. It's very apparent that the Attorney General of The United States has chosen to keep her job and sacrifice America at this point. The country is in great jeopardy, because as long as the conspiracy stands we don't know bad the damage was and we can't bring people to justice and until we bring people to justice we don't know how to rebuild the military because we don't know our total vulnerability. Prudence dictates that we should at this point assume a worst case scenario. Everything is gone! I was director of mobilization for the Department of Defense and we looked to the fact that our technology would save us. The great strength of America is our high-tech labs and our high-tech imperative to always be on the cutting edge and that is now compromised and sold out because of Bill Clinton accepting bribes from the People's Republic of China. ..."

The Union Leader 5/3/99 Richard Lessner "...Worse, the Clinton administration's criminal negligence in the face of this nearly total failure of security verges on - dare we say it? - the treasonous. The scale of our loss has been almost incalculable. This is the most important news story of the year. Even so, the Los Alamos case continues to be overshadowed by the tragedy in Littleton, Colo., and the war in Yugoslavia. It also may be that the American people - having endured Monicagate, impeachment, campaign finance shenanigans, Whitewater - are suffering Clinton scandal fatigue. Yet as worn-out as we all are with this scandal-ridden Presidency, this security is too serious to be casually written off..... As bad as this is, it is not the worst of the scandal. Lee's computer transfers apparently came in 1994 and 1995. Shortly thereafter, the Taiwan-born scientist became the prime suspect in the transfer to Red China of data on the secret W-88 nuclear warhead, the most advanced in the U.S. inventory..... The FBI began to target Lee in the W-88 theft in 1996. Despite this, he was allowed to keep his top secret security clearance and was allowed to continue working at Los Alamos. Despite the criminal investigation, Attorney General Reno's Justice Department blocked an FBI request for court approval to gain surreptitious access to Lee's office and computer files. At that point the investigation inexplicably stalled. Incredibly, in April 1997, Lee was promoted! Despite being the prime suspect in an espionage investigation, Lee was put in charge of updating the so-called "legacy" codes....... And now the FBI is saying it may be prepared to arrest Lee sometime in the next week or so. Is this delay intended to allow the suspected spy the opportunity to flee the country, as so many other witnesses in the Clinton-Gore/Red China fund-raising scandal have done? As we have noted before, what is so disturbing about this espionage case is the Clinton-Gore/Red China fund-raising nexus. At the very time the FBI was being thwarted in its efforts to investigate the Los Alamos security breakdown, the Clinton-Gore campaign was accepting campaign contributions from foreign sources linked to Beijing and, in at least one instance, directly from the chief of Chinese military intelligence. Did Janet Reno's Justice Department drag its feet in order to conceal the Clinton-China connection? Was the inattention to national security driven by political considerations? Was the FBI investigation blocked in 1996 to prevent this espionage scandal from becoming public during the Presidential campaign? ....."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 5/3/99 Joyce Howard Price "...Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, who's also on the intelligence committee and who appeared on Fox, said: "We've compromised some of our most important top secret information. . . . It's very apparent we haven't taken counterintelligence measures or matters very seriously in this administration. This has gone on now for a long time through a series of administrations, but never has it been as bad as in the last two or three or four years." Some government officials and officials at the Los Alamos laboratory said last week that Mr. Lee compromised every weapon in the U.S. arsenal. He was removed from his job earlier this year but has not been charged with any crime so far. Asked about that yesterday, Mr. Shelby said he believes charges will be brought against the suspect. But he doesn't know when that will occur. But he did not have anything favorable to say about the government's investigation of Mr. Lee. "It looks to me like this is a botched investigation by the FBI, and there seems to be some culpability in the Justice Department," said Mr. Shelby. Asked whether he believes the administration's delayed response to warnings of Chinese spying might have been related to contributions the Chinese made to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, Mr. Shelby said, "It makes us wonder. I hope not. I hope and pray there was never a connection between the two." But he noted that a request made to the office of Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder for a warrant to monitor the computer and phones of Mr. Lee was denied. "It was turned down during the historical context of all the investigation by Congress of the fund raising at the White House," Mr. Shelby said on Fox. Mr. Holder, who appeared on ABC's "This Week," denied any responsibility. "Our office did not refuse . . . our office is generally not in the loop. The office that handles those things did turn it down. A request was made of the Deputy Attorney General's Office in an informal way, from what I understand, to one of the lawyers in my office. It's not even clear that I was the deputy attorney general at that time. We're in the process of trying to re-create all that happened there," he said. "The determination that was made by the people who are professionals in this regard was that there was not probable cause at that point to proceed in the way in which the FBI wanted to," Mr. Holder said...."

Newsweek Magazine 5/3/99 Gregory L. Vistica and Daniel Klaidman "... Weeks after reports that Wen Ho Lee, a Chinese-American scientist at Los Alamos, may have leaked secret nuclear-weapons designs to Beijing back in 1988, some in the U.S. intelligence community are asking: was the FBI deliberately slow to investigate? The bureau certainly had a reason to be embarrassed about the investigation: NEWSWEEK has learned that Lee's wife, Sylvia, was for years an FBI informant. According to senior intelligence officials, from 1985 to 1991, Sylvia Lee - an administrator at Los Alamos who arranged lab tours for Chinese delegations and attended academic conferences in Beijing - covertly helped the FBI keep tabs on prominent Chinese scientists and develop personality profiles on them..... Intelligence officials still have doubts about whether they will ever gather enough evidence to prosecute Wen Ho Lee, who, sources say, knew about his wife's relationship with the FBI. Lee maintains he is innocent. Earlier this month the FBI sheepishly revealed Sylvia Lee's FBI ties to top intelligence officials, who are furious that the bureau withheld critical information. According to government officials, FBI Director Louis Freeh, Attorney General Janet Reno and CIA Director George Tenet were also kept in the dark. This week Freeh will appear before angry senators on the Intelligence Committee. It won't be an easy sell...."

Time 5/3/99 Elaine Shannon and Michael Duffy "...Mrs. Lee's modest relationship with the FBI complicates the already murky case of her husband, Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-born computer scientist who worked on nuclear-warhead design programs at Los Alamos. In 1995 U.S. intelligence officers learned that China had somehow stolen classified information about the W-88 miniaturized nuclear-warhead program. The ensuing FBI investigation found Wen Ho Lee had violated a number of lab security rules, including failing to report contacts with PRC scientists-lapses for which Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson fired him last month...."

Associated Press 5/5/99 H. Josef Hebert, "....As early as 1996, managers at the Los Alamos nuclear lab wanted to examine the computer of a scientist suspected of espionage. But they were warned away by Justice Department lawyers who feared the search would taint information for use in court, the Senate was told Wednesday..... Computer experts reconstructed the files, government officials have said, but questions remain why the search was not conducted much earlier since Lee had been under suspicion of espionage since 1996. "An individual is suspected of being a spy with access to all of our warhead information ... and we did not get into his computer. This is total incompetence,'' Sen. Don Nickels, R-Okla., said Wednesday...... John Browne, the director of the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico, told a Senate hearing Wednesday that as early as 1996 laboratory officials suggested to the FBI, which had just begun investigating Lee, that the Taiwanese-born scientist's computer be searched. They argued they could do so under a 1995 policy directive that advises all lab employees that their computers are subject to search without notice. "The FBI and the Department of Justice felt that the policy was not adequate (and) ... that if we proceeded independently, anything that was found they could not use'' in court, Browne told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. .... In 1984, Lee was told to take a polygraph test and "showed deception on seven questions'' that should have alerted security officials, said Domenici. Instead, the data became buried and was never passed on to lab managers. When the Energy Department office in Albuquerque, N.M., five years later raised some questions about the 1984 polygraph tests, the file disappeared when sent to Washington, said Domenici, so three years later the regional office had to hire a contractor to reconstruct Lee's personnel file....In August 1997, FBI director Louis Freeh told the No. 2 official at the Energy Department that the investigation of Lee would not be jeopardized if the scientist were shifted to a less sensitive job, or if his security were lifted. But word of Freeh's assessment never reached Los Alamos, according to Browne, who took over as the lab's director in November of that year. "I never received any information regarding this ... and to my knowledge, neither has anyone else at the laboratory,'' Browne told the senators Wednesday. Browne called this perhaps the most serious communications breakdown involving the Lee case and said if he had known of the FBI's go-ahead he would have moved quickly to remove Lee from his job....."

Syndicated Column 5/4/99 Debra J.Saunders "...LAST NOVEMBER, a secret report warned the Clinton administration about an "acute intelligence threat" in U.S. nuclear labs. Yet, according to a devastating report in the New York Times, five months went by before investigators searched the computer of the suspected party, scientist Wen Ho Lee. The delay gave Lee, who has since been fired from his job for security violations, time to try to delete thousands of files containing nuclear secrets. National security may be an oxymoron in U.S. government under President Clinton. His Justice Department turned down an FBI request to wiretap Lee's phone and monitor his computer. What's more, although investigators suggested that the Department of Energy transfer Lee to a less sensitive job, it instead put him in charge of updating the computer archives of nuclear secrets. (Lee's attorney insists his client is not guilty of espionage.) Get the feeling this administration doesn't take national security seriously? You should....."

Reuters 5/6/99 James Vincini "...U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, stung by criticism in Congress that the Justice Department and FBI bungled the case of a suspected Chinese nuclear spy, announced Thursday that an internal review panel would find out what should have been done differently. A day after Republican senators cited repeated mistakes in the espionage investigation, Reno said a team of federal prosecutors and FBI agents would go back to 1982 to determine what had happened and to make recommendations so cases can be better handled in the future. ``I want to make sure that we've looked at everything to see if there is anything that we could have done differently,'' Reno said at her weekly Justice Department news conference.....Senate Energy Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said he wanted ``an explanation of why the Justice Department didn't give the FBI the authority to initiate an investigation and monitor (Lee's) computer.'' Assistant Senate Majority Leader Don Nickles, an Oklahoma Republican, said: ``It's very, very troubling to think this individual, this suspect ... had unbelievable access to very sensitive data on warheads, testing codes, and to think that we didn't even review his computer files until this March.'' Nickles said he wanted to know why the Justice Department turned down the FBI's request several years ago to search the computer of the Taiwanese-born U.S. scientist...."

Time 5/10/99 Romesh Ratnesar "...But the realization that the codes stored on Lee's computer could have found their way into scores of foreign hands, including those of the Chinese government, left U.S. officials dumbstruck. "Holy s___," was what Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said when his counterintelligence chief told him of the data transfers in late March. Republicans were using language even less polite last week when news of the possible heist landed in Washington. Congressional leaders were already fuming about disclosures, first made in the March 6 edition of the New York Times, that since 1996 the FBI had been trying to determine whether Lee had given Beijing classified information about the design of America's most advanced nuclear warhead, the W-88, and that in spite of this possibility, Lee had remained at Los Alamos until he was fired on March 8. The Administration tried to sidestep criticism by insisting that any spying that had taken place had happened during Republican administrations. But that defense may not cut it this time around. Investigators suspect that Lee, 59, downloaded the bulk of the secret codes in 1994 and 1995. He was allowed to retain his high-level security clearance at the lab until late 1998, even while he was under FBI surveillance for the W-88 theft. Agents say they asked the lab to let Lee keep his job so he wouldn't get wise to their probe. Still, it was not until after Lee's dismissal from Los Alamos that anyone managed to check what was on his computer. As more details have emerged, it has sometimes seemed that the only thing more breathtaking than Lee's alleged deceit was how long the government took to ferret it out...."

Time 5/10/99 Romesh Ratnesar "...By then the investigation of Lee had devolved into a bureaucratic Byzantium. The Albuquerque agents filed their warrant request with the Justice Department in July 1997. Officials there concluded that the FBI did not have sufficient proof that Lee posed a national-security threat grave enough to merit a raid on his computer. Exasperated FBI authorities appealed to Attorney General Janet Reno, but she wouldn't budge. Attempts to get more goods on Lee turned up nothing. Says a veteran counterespionage investigator of China's spy network: "They're everywhere, but it's hard to catch them doing anything." ..."

Time 5/10/99 Romesh Ratnesar "...The Energy Department contracts out day-to-day operation of the country's nuclear labs to the University of California and Lockheed Martin Corp. "Security is something they don't even think about," says a retired FBI agent. To break the logjam, agents arranged for Freeh and CIA director George Tenet to receive a stunning briefing in 1997 on security lapses and suspicions of Chinese snooping at Los Alamos. The directors then told Energy Secretary Federico Pena that security was in need of an overhaul. The two also convened a committee of U.S. counterspies, which informed the National Security Council in mid-1997 that the labs needed tighter security and stricter vetting of foreign visitors. Clinton signed off on the proposal in February 1998...."

Judicial Watch Press Release 5/06/99 "...Ever since Judicial Watch filed its first case against the Clinton Commerce Department, uncovering in documentation the role of suspected spy John Huang at the agency, it has been opposed on nearly every effort to get at the full truth by the Clinton Justice Department. Just recently, the Clinton Justice Department, run by Attorney General Janet Reno, even opposed Judicial Watch's request to depose Johnny Chung. The effort was not successful, and Mr. Chung will testify on May 13, 1999. Another example of Reno's attempts to obstruct was her refusal to turn over the original of the desk diary of John Huang, which also proved unsuccessful. Huang was deposed again by Judicial Watch on April 13, 15 and May 3, 1999. While questioned about his diary, he took the Fifth Amendment over 1000 times. Judicial Watch will challenge this with the Court.....Now, the excellent newspaper, The Washington Times, reports today that, "Justice to Probe FBI Handling of Nuke Espionage: Focus on Secrets Passed To China." With revelations in Judicial Watch depositions in recent days that the Clinton Administration has also failed to shore up security at its Commerce Department, where it is likely that classified material was also provided to the Chinese by Huang, having the Clinton Justice Department put in charge of a new task force is like letting the fox investigate his own henhouse massacre. "Why don't we just let the Chinese investigate. While corrupt, at least they're not also incompetent," quipped Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman...."

The Union Leader, Manchester, NH 5/6/99 "...U. S. Attorney General Janet Reno refused yesterday to say in a public U. S. Senate Committee hearing why her Justice department vetoed wiretaps of suspected Los Alamos spy Wen Ho Lee. Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Reno was asked pointedly by U. S. Senator Bob Smith, R-NH, why an FBI request to wiretap Lee was twice rejected. She refused to answer publically, preferring to do so during a closed door meeting of the committee. "This is the biggest spy scandal in the history of the United States," Smith said. "Our entire nuclear arsenal has been compromised. I am very concerned that the Attorney general refused to answer, and concerned that no reasons were given for the wiretap refusal...."

Washington Post 5/6/99 Walter Pincus and Vernon Loeb ".... Senate Republicans unveiled new evidence yesterday that investigations of the chief suspect in possible Chinese espionage at nuclear weapons laboratories have been marked by repeated bungles over the past 15 years, including at one point the loss of his security file. "I think heads should roll," Don Nickles (R-Okla.), the Senate majority whip, said at a hearing held by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee....Adding to charges of lax security and improper investigations that have cascaded out over the weeks, the revelations provided further fuel for a growing controversy pitting Republican lawmakers against the Clinton administration..... "An individual is suspected of being a spy with access to all of our warhead information . . . and we did not get into his computer. This is total incompetence," Nickles said..... Feeding the concern of Nickles and others was disclosure by Los Alamos director John C. Browne that Lee, like all employees, had signed a waiver permitting his e-mail and personal computer to be reviewed without his knowledge. Browne said that despite the waiver the FBI and Justice Department in 1996 decided a court warrant would be needed before that step could be taken.....It was not until 1989, when Lee's five-year renewal of his special Q clearance was up for review, that the Energy Department at the highest levels learned of the FBI's inquiry into Lee. But a file put together on Lee that was sent to DOE headquarters for security review was lost, Domenici said, and it was not until 1992 that the department hired an "outside contractor to reconstruct the lost Wen Ho Lee file." ..."

Deseret News 5/5/99 Lee Davidson "...Sen. Orrin Hatch said Wednesday the Justice Department took rare action to deny a request for an FBI wiretap that could have cut short the Chinese spying at a U.S. nuclear lab. He said that happened about the same time the Justice Department refused to seek an independent counsel to investigate illegal Chinese campaign donations to the 1996 Clinton campaign. "Had the department acted promptly and properly two years ago (on the wiretap petition) . . . much of this apparent damage to our national security may have been avoided," the Utah Republican said. In a second front of attack, Hatch also used an annual Justice Department oversight hearing to accuse the administration of not enforcing current gun control laws - but calling for more of them after the Littleton, Colo., school shootings..... Hatch noted that press reports said the FBI makes 700 such wiretap applications a year, and the Justice Department only refuses one or two a year. "We find ourselves looking at the extraordinary damage that may have been caused since 1997 alone - since the time the department denied action to seek a wiretap," Hatch said. The actions also came while Attorney General Janet Reno continually refused to appoint an independent counsel to look into possible fund-raising illegalities involving the Chinese government. A written statement by Hatch said not enough evidence exists to connect the two actions, but maybe Reno should reconsider appointed a special council to ensure "greater confidence in the Department's actions in this most serious matter." ...."

The Washington Times 5/6/99 Bill Gertz and Jerry Seper "...The Justice Department is setting up a special task force to investigate the FBI's probe of a Los Alamos computer scientist suspected of passing nuclear weapons secrets to China. A senior Justice Department official told The Washington Times that Attorney General Janet Reno and Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. will soon appoint a panel headed by a federal prosecutor and supported by FBI agents...."

Detroit News 5/6/99 "...The picture is becoming ever clearer: The Clinton administration has been shockingly lax in protecting America's nuclear secrets. And it is allowing the Energy Department, which is primarily responsible for nuclear weapons research and development, to hold up a bipartisan congressional report on the issue of China's theft of nuclear secrets. This is only likely to add to suspicions that the security lapses are somehow linked to this administration's campaign fund-raising efforts..... "

Washington Times 5/7/99 Helle Bering "....Miss Reno's Justice Department did its part. From October 1996, when the campaign-finance scandal erupted, to the present, Miss Reno has repeatedly refused to seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the Chinese-Democratic Party money connection. Meanwhile, other senior Justice officials repeatedly refused in 1997 to seek a court-approved wiretap that would have allowed the FBI to examine Mr. Lee's office computer...."

Washington Times 5/7/99 Helle Bering "....DOE did its part as well. Without the wiretap, the FBI was unable to pursue aggressively its investigation of Mr. Lee. In April 1997, with its investigation stalled, the FBI advised DOE to remove Mr. Lee from his sensitive position. Instead, DOE inexplicably placed Mr. Lee in charge of updating the computerized archive of nuclear secrets... Most of this downloading, which includes virtually all the nuclear secrets of the U.S. arsenal, occurred in 1994 and 1995. Had Miss Reno's Justice Department obtained the court-approved wiretap in early 1997, the FBI would have learned about Mr. Lee's unauthorized downloading two years earlier. Meanwhile, DOE refused for several years to reinstate the FBI-recommended background checks for visitors to its weapons labs, and the counterintelligence officer who uncovered the espionage has testified before Congress that an acting DOE secretary prevented him from briefing Congress about the Chinese spying...."

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...."

Reuters 5/10/99 "...A scientist assigned to a classified Pentagon project in 1997 supplied China with secrets about advanced radar technology being developed to track submarines, a report in the New York Times said Monday. Submarine detection technology is closely guarded by the Pentagon because the U.S. Navy's ability to hide its submarines is a key military advantage, the newspaper said.....The Justice Department in Washington also blocked any prosecution of Lee, officials quoted by the paper said..... On March 26, 1998, a judge declined to put Peter Lee in prison and sentenced him to 12 months in a halfway house with three years' probation and a fine of $20,000, according to the newspaper. Regardless of the failure to prosecute Lee over the radar technology, the case shows Chinese espionage runs deeper than just assertions of theft at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Times said. It also illustrates that the American government believed China was successfully receiving American defense secrets during President Clinton's second term in office, the paper said...."

New York Times 5/10/99 JEFF GERTH and JAMES RISEN "...A scientist working on a classified Pentagon project in 1997 provided China with secrets about advanced radar technology being developed to track submarines, according to court records and government documents. Submarine detection technology is jealously guarded by the Pentagon because the Navy's ability to conceal its submarines is a crucial military advantage. The information about the radar technology, which is considered promising and has been in development for two decades, was divulged to Chinese nuclear-weapons experts during a two-hour lecture in Beijing in May 1997 by Peter Lee, an American scientist, court records show. Lee was then working for TRW Inc., which had been hired by the Pentagon. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles wanted to charge Lee with espionage but were unable to, in part because Navy officials in Washington would not permit testimony about the technology in open court, law-enforcement officials said. The Justice Department in Washington, having some questions of its own, would not approve the prosecution either, the officials said.... The Justice Department's 1997 decision not to approve the espionage prosecution of Lee contrasts with some spy cases involving the former Soviet Union or Israel in which ways were found to protect secrets and bring charges. The 1997 decision not to prosecute came a few months after the Justice Department turned down a request from the FBI to put a covert wiretap on Wen Ho Lee, then a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"

New York Times 5/10/99 William Safire "... called three friends in the Departments of Energy, Defense and Justice and asked them to turn on their office computers and read to me the first banner that came on their screens. Anyone using this system expressly consents to monitoring" is the message. Government employees using Government equipment on Government time thus waive privacy claims. Wen Ho Lee, the scientist who downloaded millions of lines of the nation's most secret codes to a computer easy to penetrate, also signed a waiver consenting to a search of his computer without his knowledge. And yet the Reno Justice Department denied the F.B.I.'s request for permission to search Lee's Government computer. Eric Holder, Janet Reno's deputy, decided that a court search warrant was necessary -- but then refused to apply to the special foreign-surveillance court to get it. Of more than 700 such F.B.I. requests a year, a surveillance official admits that a flat turndown is extremely rare. Why this one?

Ms. Reno, who never met an investigation of Chinese penetration she didn't try to undermine, is suckering us with a claim that the denial of surveillance was to protect a criminal investigation. That is foo-foo dust. This was counterespionage, and the Criminal Division was kept in the dark. Making C.D. the scapegoat for the failure to protect America's deepest nuclear secrets is typical of the Clinton-Reno refusal to accept responsibility for endangering national security. Reno has appointed her personal Whitewash Brigade of favorite roundheels. This enables her to rebuff Congress and the press for months with the usual "I cannot comment because an inquiry is ongoing." ...With Clintonites hunkered down and Justice covering up, Congress must do the digging. A report by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control showed what Chinese arms enterprises received U.S. technology over the past decade -- but could supply no names of U.S. exporters during the Clinton years. That's because that embarrassment is "proprietary information" at the Commerce Department. John McCain's Senate Commerce Committee has the power to subpoena those names from Commerce, and to have Wisconsin's Gary Milhollin run those sales against his Chinese-arms data base. That would tell us what political contributors were allowed to sell sensitive technology in 1996 and 1997 to which Chinese nuclear, missile and military sites....."

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

NY TIMES 5/12/99 TIM GOLDEN and JEFF GERTH "…On June 23, 1997, about six months into the inquiry, Stipano convened from the Justice Department and other law-enforcement agencies to describe its initial findings. "We were not oblivious to the fact that this could be money laundering, that it could be embezzlement, that it could be campaign-finance related," one official said. The inquiry was completed early the next spring. No charges were brought, and no regulatory actions taken. At the time of the June 1997 meeting, Justice Department and FBI officials were already searching for flows of Chinese money into American political coffers. And they were focusing closely on one of Ms. Xu's relatives by marriage, a Chinese military officer and aerospace executive named Liu Chao-ying….Ms. Xu said she was not questioned by federal investigators until almost a year later, and then only briefly. She said the officials asked about her role in setting up a checking account for Ms. Liu in 1991, but dropped the matter after she explained that Ms. Liu was the sister of her younger brother's wife, and that she had no other business involvement with her. They are not my favorite people," Ms. Xu said of her in-laws. "I live in a different world." Several American officials privately questioned that assertion, saying Ms. Liu traveled to China with Ms. Xu at least once, in 1991. Ms. Liu has also used Ms. Xu's identity as an alias on at least one occasion, officials said.

NY TIMES 5/12/99 TIM GOLDEN and JEFF GERTH "…On June 3, 1998, the comptroller's office called a second, larger interagency meeting to present the findings of its investigation into Far East National. "This was a situation where we had identified a piece of a much bigger puzzle," Stipano, the agency's enforcement director, said. "And the rest of the puzzle was not something that we had the ability or the authority to investigate." Because the investigators thought some of the $92 million might have been diverted by Chinese officials, a State Department official was asked to consider raising the matter with Beijing. The Department decided against that. "It was not a foreign policy issue that one raises with the Foreign Ministry," one official said. At the FBI, an official said the matter was initially passed on to a task force investigating campaign-finance cases questions. The task force later referred it back to the bureau's headquarters in Washington, which forwarded it to the FBI field office in Los Angeles. Although the field office brought the case to the office of the U.S. attorney there, word of it only belatedly reached agents in foreign counterintelligence -- those who knew the most about Ms. Xu…."

Washington Times 5/12/99 Jerry Seper "...A defiant Johnny Chung told a House committee yesterday of cash gifts for President Clinton's re-election campaign, of threats by the Chinese to his family if he didn't keep his mouth shut, and of hush money to defend himself if he did. The exact language of the threats was imprecise and polite, he said, but he got the message loud and clear that he would cooperate with the FBI and the Justice Department only at great risk. "The message was as follows: If you keep your mouth shut, you and your family will be safe," the one-time Democratic fund-raiser said At one point, the FBI believed the threat was serious enough to hide Chung and his family in a California hotel for three weeks.....Chung, who admitted last year as part of a plea agreement to making illegal donations to the Democratic Party, told the committee the threat and the hush money offer for attorneys' fees came from Robert Luu, a Chinese-American he first met in Beijing and whom he later met in Los Angeles -- while the FBI listened on a body microphone he wore and watched on a hidden camera. He said Mr. Luu represented himself as being in touch with a Chinese general who had earlier given Chung $300,000 for President Clinton's re-election campaign. The threat, he said, was veiled. "The Chinese are more polite and indirect, so the words do not precisely translate. . . . Nevertheless, this was how I interpreted the meaning of the words. Essentially, the message that I believe I was given was that me and my family would be safe if I didn't talk, and if I did talk, I could not be *certain what would happen," Chung said. In describing the threat, Chung said Mr. Luu told him he was in contact with "some people from Beijing," that he had received money from Chinese officials "to take care of my legal expenses, and that the lawyer, David Brockway, "was connected and knew the No. 3 person" at the Justice Department. Chung said Mr. Luu also told him that he might be able to get himself a presidential pardon. Chung testified that Mr. Luu said he was connected to Liu Chao-ying, a Chinese aerospace executive and lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army.... "

 

CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. 5/12/99 Dr. Paul Craig Roberts "....Adultery, sexual promiscuity and lying now bear the presidential seal of approval..... Clinton has established that perjury and obstruction of justice are not sufficient grounds for removing a president from office.....Clinton might be the first president to commit treason.... Clinton is using a totally politicized Justice Department to prevent an investigation and has bottled up Congress' own investigation by refusing to release the Cox report. Both Congress and the media have acquiesced to Clinton's refusal to be held accountable, further strengthening the precedent that the president is accountable only to polls. Clinton is the first to turn the White House into a campaign operation, not only selling the Lincoln bedroom, but also U.S. policy. Using an obscure law, Clinton made a national monument in Utah out of billions of dollars of non-polluting coal deposits. The direct benefactor was the Indonesian/Chinese Lippo Group -- another source of Clinton's illegal campaign contributions -- which owns the other major deposits of environmentally safe coal.

Clinton has politicized the FBI. The bureau acquiesced in the Clinton administration's illegal demand for hundreds of files on Republicans. The FBI also helped Bill and Hillary Clinton cover up the purge and illegal prosecution of White House Travel Office personnel..... Clinton politicized the IRS and ordered audits of conservative think tanks and organizations. Clinton has politicized the NATO alliance, turning a defensive European alliance into an aggressor in behalf of a Muslim drug gang in Kosovo, a province of Serbia....The casualties are mainly civilians, making Clinton the first American president who is a war criminal under the charter of the International Criminal Court.... Clinton has established that the morality of the liberal elites is an issue-driven morality. For liberals, morality is determined by a person's position on homosexual rights, the radical feminist agenda, minority privileges and the Second Amendment, not by personal behavior. Clinton has established that the U.S. media has no integrity...... For example, infuriated Canadians have called for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department of the sale of infected blood from prison inmates in Arkansas while Clinton was governor of the state....The Canadian call has gone unheeded, both by the Justice Department and the U.S. media...Clinton is the first president to be held in contempt of court by a federal judge....."

Wall Street Journal 5/12/99 JOHN J. FIALKA "... Treasury Department employees in January destroyed 162 boxes of old records that may have included files subject to a court order in a suit accusing the government of mishandling Indian trust funds. The Justice Department's lead lawyer in the case, Phillip A. Brooks, admitted the destruction in a letter to Judge Royce C. Lamberth of federal District Court here. The court had ordered the Clinton administration to produce trust-fund documents, and earlier this year Judge Lamberth held both Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in civil contempt for repeatedly failing to locate and provide all the documents. The case, scheduled for trial in June, has been pending for more than two years.....The destruction was stopped, Mr. Brooks said, and a check of the remaining 245 boxes showed that at least two boxes were from the Interior Department. "We cannot at this time rule out the possibility" that some of the destroyed documents were subject to the court order, he stated in his letter. Dennis Gingold, a lawyer for the Indians, reacted angrily: "I think Mr. Rubin should go to jail for this. This is criminal contempt.".... Mr. Brooks said the boxes of destroyed records covered payments made by various federal agencies during the first half of this century. Another box from the collection "was apparently mislaid" during a transfer operation in 1996, he wrote. "We have opted to err on the side of caution and bring these matters to your attention immediately," Mr. Brooks said in his letter to Judge Lamberth. There was no immediate reaction from the judge, who has been critical of the government's handling of the case. In two separate rulings Tuesday, Alan L. Balaran, a special master appointed by the judge to enforce his orders for documents, ordered the government to provide e-mail as well as other documents that the Justice Department had argued should be withheld under attorney-client privilege.

Opening Statement Chairman Dan Burton Committee on Government Reform 5/11/99 "...The Clinton Administration hasn't been very aggressive in getting to the bottom of the fundraising scandal. The nuclear espionage scandal looks even worse: The FBI tried four times to get approval to tap the phones of the main suspect in the Los Alamos case. The Justice Department turned them down repeatedly. Why? The Energy Department kept the main suspect, Wen Ho Lee, in his job for three years. He was kept on for eighteen months after the FBI said there was no investigative reason for it. He had access to classified information the entire time. Why? The President's National Security Advisor were thoroughly briefed about China's espionage, but no action was taken for over two years to improve security at those labs. And the President continued to sign waivers to ship sensitive satellites to China. Why? Just yesterday, the President approved a new satellite export to China. Why is the President approving a technology transfer like this when we haven't gotten any answers from China?

Associated Press 5/12/99 H Josef Hebert "...Attorney General Janet Reno defended the Justice Department refusing to let the FBI search the computer of a suspected nuclear weapons lab spy in 1997 as "a close call'' justified by a lack of evidence. Reno's defense in a closed-door meeting Wednesday of the Senate Intelligence Committee left Republicans and Democrats still angry over the slow response by the FBI and Justice Department to an emerging espionage crisis. Critics contend a computer search would have turned up years earlier evidence emerging only last month that Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee shifted thousands of classified atomic weapons codes to an unsecured computer...... Both the FBI's general counsel and the Justice Department agreed that a search warrant granted by a secret federal court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would be required. The FBI applied, but in 1997 Justice ruled that there was not enough evidence against Lee and decided against seeking the warrant from the secret court..... Mary Anne Sullivan, the Energy Department's general counsel, said that Los Alamos lab managers twice had offered to search Lee's computer. If the department proceeded with the search over the FBI's objections, Sullivan said, "we would have subjected ourselves to another criticism. That we compromised their ability to conduct an investigation.'' ..."

http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly 5/11/99 Bill O'Reilly "..."Of course Mr. Clinton is at fault ... but he's almost over and history will have to deal with him. However, it is Attorney General Janet Reno who should be held accountable by Congress ... and investigated to the fullest extent. I'm going to use the word treason here ... I believe Ms. Reno should be investigated for intentionally harming the United States of America. We all know that Janet Reno refused to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Chinese campaign finance situation ... despite the fact that Charles La Bella ... the top Justice Department investigator on the case ... and Louis Freeh ... the FBI Chief .... strongly recommended an independent prosecutor. We also know that Ms. Reno's justice department refused to seek wire taps and computer monitoring for suspected Los Alamos spy Wen Ho Lee. Those two facts alone ... demand an investigation into Ms. Reno's conduct. Under her watch, our presidential election was tainted by foreign money ... and vital military secrets were obtained by the Chinese and who knows who else....."

 

Boston Herald 5/13/99 "....From the candidate who criticized George Bush for being soft on tyrants, Bill Clinton rapidly evolved into the regime's most reliable friend - approving the transfer of sophisticated dual-use technology and mouthing platitudes about our ``strategic partnership'' with China as its rulers threatened Taiwan and sold missiles to outlaw nations. As Chung testified, Clinton's friendship with China wasn't one-sided. While nuclear secrets and technology transfers went out one door, campaign cash flowed in the other. More than enough questions for a special prosecutor to examine, if only one were appointed...."

The New York Times 5/13/99 Jeff Gerth "...."Coke's 130-year-old secret is more secure than our nuclear weapons research," Murkowksi said. A Democrat on the committee, Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln of Arkansas, said the failure to quickly search the computer "still angers me." "Supposedly everybody was watching, and in reality no one was watching," she said...Requests by the FBI for permission to obtain a search warrant for the scientist, Wen Ho Lee, were rebuffed twice in 1997 by the Justice Department. It was not until March of this year, after obtaining Lee's consent, that investigators examined his computer.....But the difficulties of gaining access to a computer at a government-owned weapons laboratory prompted senators to complain on Wednesday about how security concerns could be improperly subordinated to privacy protections or the demands of espionage investigations, most of which never result in prosecution. Ms. Sullivan and her aides said the Energy Department may search someone's computer if there is a reasonable basis to suspect work-related misconduct. But a search in a criminal case requires a higher standard, probable cause that a crime has been committed. Thus, the Energy Department may forgo its right to search -- as it did in the case of Lee -- if it fears that a defendant may legally challenge the evidence. This legal caution can create a dilemma in which no one is charged with a crime, yet national security may be harmed because no one does a search...."

5/13/99 Drudge **Exclusive** "... The Justice Department has considered prosecuting WASHINGTON TIMES reporter Bill Gertz for unlawful possession of classified material, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned -- material that is set to be published in a new blockbuster book! Coming next week from every spooks' favorite reporter, BETRAYAL. The project Bill Gertz has been working on in secret for over a year lands in bookstores on Monday. -- The First exclusive interview with Navy Lt. Jack Daly, the officer who was lazed by a Russian merchant ship in 1997 off of Washington State's Puget Sound. Gertz, for the first time, has the officer's whole story of how he was hung out to dry. The State Department tipped off the Russians in advance of a search of the ship. -- Gertz offers highlights of the upcoming Cox Report, including this nugget: China tested a neutron warhead seven times. (The U.S., which designed it, never tested it.) -- A top-secret CIA memo exposes how China and Pakistan collaborated secretly to fool the United States about illicit nuclear sales. The document is included in the appendix. -- The secret Executive Order signed by Clinton on missile defense. That and another document (both reprinted) show that the administration has no plans to deploy a national missile defense outside the ABM treaty.... -- The North Korea chapter reveals how Madeleine Albright lied to Congress about Pyongyang's continuing development of nuclear weapons in order to protect its much-vaunted Agreed Framework, that was supposed to have halted the program back in the early 1990s. -- Secret documents reveal how Russia's nuclear weapons control is weakening.

Fox News 5/13/99 "...Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Shelby blasted Attorney General Janet Reno Wednesday for turning down an FBI request to search the home and computer of Wen Ho Lee, a suspected Chinese spy. The Republican senator from Alabama only smiled when asked if she should be fired. "The nation was not well-served," Shelby said. "It's indefensible on the part of the attorney general. She's accountable for what happens." Reno responded to the assault by calling the refusal of the Justice Department to allow the FBI search of Lee in 1997 a "close call." Reno said a lack of evidence justified the refusal. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Congress should make it clear there are certain times when national security is at issue that such a search of a government computer will not taint evidence.... Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said he wasn't sure if Reno goofed or whether she was a victim of a flawed process, but he singled out her agency for failing to take nuclear spying seriously...."I'm still sort of surprised that we may have been briefed on this prior the president's knowing about it," said Kerrey, noting that Congress has been more aggressive than the White House in unearthing details of spying.....Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, called the two-year delay in searching Lee's computer "a classic case of bureaucratic bungling." Even if such a search jeopardized possible prosecution, it should have been conducted to help prevent additional losses of secrets, he said... "

Washington Post Vernon Loeb and Walter Pincus 5/13/99 Page A25 "...Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, charged yesterday that Attorney General Janet Reno committed an "indefensible" error in failing to approve an FBI request for a warrant to search the desktop computer of an espionage suspect at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "The diligence of the FBI and the Justice Department just wasn't there," Shelby told reporters after he and other intelligence committee members grilled Reno and her aides at a closed-door hearing for more than two hours. Leading Democrats did not hold Reno personally accountable but agreed that the Justice Department should have approved the FBI's request and sought a secret warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to search physicist Wen Ho Lee's unclassified office computer two years ago. "Most of us on the committee see this as something that should have been granted and we don't understand still why the surveillance opportunity wasn't presented," said Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), the committee's vice chairman. Asked after the hearing where the FBI made mistakes, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) replied: "In the beginning, in the middle, and in the end."..."

***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** 5/13/99 Vol Four No 82 "..." 3) Only FNC cared that a top Democrat criticized Justice for turning down the FBI's warrant request for Wen Ho Lee. FNC's Carl Cameron exclusively revealed how the Clinton team ignored evidence about misuse of plutonium by North Korea. 4) No Chung on Wednesday's morning shows, but they had time for a story about a beach party for a furniture store's staff and a discussion about Star Wars toys. CNS picked up how Chung's sentencing judge said if the DNC didn't know then they were dumb. .... Cameron began his May 12 story over video of a nuclear plant in North Korea: "Classified intelligence data about this North Korean nuclear energy reactor, Fox News has learned, was ignored by the Clinton administration just last year. The administration pushed forward with funding for a new cleaner reactor for North Korea even though there was evidence that the North Koreans were using the old reactor's plutonium fuel rods for weapons development instead of sending the material to the new facility for energy production. Sources say there was a huge debate about withholding funds for the new project, but the White House insisted on going ahead anyway." Jumping to Chinese espionage, Cameron showed how at a Senate hearing ignored by the other networks Energy official Mary Ann Sullivan said her department followed proper procedure in deferring the espionage investigation to the FBI. Cameron picked up: "But the FBI says it was denied wiretaps and search warrants by Justice Department brass. That had Attorney General Janet Reno called on the congressional carpet and blasted by members of both parties." .....Cameron concluded with this intriguing development: "Senators were supposed to receive a top secret briefing from House lawmakers who conducted an in depth investigation of China's nuclear espionage, but at the last minute sources say Democratic Senators urged House Democrats not to show up to brief them and the meeting was canceled."...."

Judicial Watch 5/13/99 "...Chung also testified that he told the FBI to investigate "their own people" at the Reno Justice Department, as he was made to understand that the "Number 3" at the Reno Justice Department was going to "fix" the investigation into his fundraising activities. Chung testified that, given his recent experiences, he was not happy to have received such solicitations from Gore, that "this [is] not the kind of mail" that he liked to receive, considering what he's gone through in the past two years. Chung said that shortly after his first contribution in 1994, he realized he and other Asian-Americans were being targeted for fundraising by the Democrats, and "that it never stopped." Chung also understood that his political contributions to Democratic causes helped buy him access to and favors from the President, Vice President, and First Lady and that he expected (and received) something back from government officials in return for his political contributions. Chung testified that a letter sent to him by Mrs. Clinton was very helpful in opening doors for his fax broadcast business and that he used the letter to solicit business from the U.S. Commerce Department for his business. Mr. Chung's deposition is set to be continued at a later date...."

Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/stage08.sml) 5/14/99 Carl Cameron "...Fox News has learned that sources within the intelligence community believe that the Chinese military could by 2002 integrate secrets stolen from U.S. weapons labs into its arsenal, including the information required to construct a W-88 miniaturized nuclear warhead. The latest information contradicts CIA assurances last month that the Chinese were 10 years away from employing any of the stolen technologies. That CIA timetable had allowed politicians on capitol hill to play down the growing scandal which centers around allegations that classified military secrets have been leaking from the United States for more than 15 years. U.S. military intelligence sources say China's long range Dong Feng-31 missile is currently being armed with miniaturized nuclear warheads alarmingly similar to the American W-88. The Dong Feng has a range of 5,000 miles, meaning it could hit targets in the United States. Secrets for the W-88 were stolen from U.S. weapons labs like Los Alamos between 1984 and 1997. The W-88 is used by the U.S. on the Trident missile which is mostly launched from submarines. Up to eight warheads can be deployed and aimed at separate targets from a single missile. Reports suggest the Chinese plan to launch their Dong Feng-31 missiles from trucks, a dramatic improvement in their missile mobility made possible by the miniaturization of warheads. Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Shelby blasted Attorney General Janet Reno Wednesday for turning down an FBI request to search the home and computer of Wen Ho Lee, a suspected Chinese spy. The Republican senator from Alabama only smiled when asked if she should be fired. "The nation was not well-served," Shelby said. "It's indefensible on the part of the attorney general. She's accountable for what happens."

Stratfor 5/14/99 "...On May 10, 1999, the DOJ attorney representing the Commerce Dept. delivered a motion containing a complete explanation of the materials that are being withheld. In one case, the Commerce Dept. is claiming that "FIVE-pages questions and answers" from the Dept. of Defense must remain classified. "13. Five-page questions and answers regarding Hua Mei - no date Originating agency: Department of Defense (E44-E47). Exemptions: (b)(5). This document is being withheld under (b)(5) because was originated by the Department of Defense as part of the process of deciding how to respond to allegations about an export to China... As there is nothing on the document that indicates it was actually used for public discussions, its release would harm the decision making process by discouraging the full consideration of facts to decision makers." Clearly, the Commerce Dept. did not inspect the SOFTWAR lawsuit submitted in 1998. Not only was this document released to SOFTWAR in full in 1998 - The entire DOD document was provided by this reporter as evidence to the Court in the original lawsuit filed in November, 1998! In fact, the entire Dept. of Defense document has been on the SOFTWAR internet web site since September 1998 and is fully available for public viewing (http://www.softwar.net/dod.html). The evidence consists of a cover letter from the Deputy Secretary of Defense dated Jan.29, 1996, FIVE-pages of questions and answers, and a three page attachment. The entire nine (9) page document, including the "FIVE" pages the Commerce Dept. is currently withholding, was returned in response to a FOIA against the Commerce Dept. in 1998..... The Commerce Dept. delivered to the Court an incomplete version of the DOD document, demonstrating they performed an incomplete search. The Commerce Dept. withheld a document that has been previously released, demonstrating that they are unable to perform a proper search. Finally, the Commerce Dept. withheld a document supplied by this reporter as evidence to the Court, demonstrating that they are unable to determine what material should or should not be withheld....."

NY Times 5/17/99 WILLIAM SAFIRE "...Though Clinton is softer than ever on China, he's taken a hard line in resisting Congress's investigations into Beijing's penetration of our nuclear labs and our political process. His latest trick: the improper use of documents submitted for intelligence declassification to prepare advance refutations of evidence of security lapses. The White House has delayed for four months the three-volume report on security laxity by the House select committee headed by Representative Chris Cox. Clinton spinners are already distributing a packet of reprints of derogations by offended scientists, China-defenders and favorite journalists. Cox has used the "clearance" delay to rewrite the turgid prose and to enliven the report with photographs and diagrams showing what missiles and satellites were stolen; that might even awaken television interest. The Senate Intelligence Committee, headed by Richard Shelby and Robert Kerrey, is not about to hold still for the abuse of clearance. After it submitted one of its reports on nuclear lab laxity for review to protect intelligence sources, it learned of a refutation of that bipartisan report in work by the National Security Council response machine. The White House was told that the submission of documents was for security clearance only. It was not to be used for (a) advance policy review so that "rapid response" would occur in the same news cycle as the reports' release, or for (b) leakage of portions to the press for "inoculation" to later reduce its impact as "old news." The intelligence business is not the publicity business. National security reports are not to be equated with the Starr report about hanky-panky. The Shelby committee made plain to the Berger Rapid-Apology Center that if this undermining of inter-branch comity did not stop forthwith, "we're going to zero out the N.S.C. staff budget."..... (In both House and Senate, bipartisan committees are discovering serious intelligence weaknesses: too little analysis of too much collection. "If there's a flare-up in Iraq, North Korea or the Andes," worries an investigator, "we could not handle it and Kosovo, too." The most troubling breakdown is in counterespionage. The F.B.I. and C.I.A., which are not blameless, are telling Congress the weakest link is the Department of Justice. What began as corrupt political protection became dangerous national security laxity. Who will apologize for that? ..."

NationalPost (Canada) 5/18/99 David Frum "....The Chinese steal American nuclear secrets, corruptly interfere in an American election, orchestrate mob attacks on the U.S. embassy -- and it's the Americans who are apologizing? How can that be? It gets worse. When President Bill Clinton attempted to apologize to China for the accidental bombing of their Belgrade embassy, the Chinese refused to take his call, and then told the newspapers about the snub. An insult followed by a public humiliation. Why is the U.S. swallowing such maltreatment? In 1971, after Britain caught a much less serious Soviet spy ring operating out of the London embassy, it expelled 105 diplomats. Why aren't Chinese diplomats being sent home? Why hasn't the U.S. announced, for instance, restrictions on visas for Chinese nuclear physics students? Those questions are inextricably connected to a second set. Why has Janet Reno's Justice Department failed to file a single charge against the Clinton-Gore campaign for violating campaign laws? Why have nearly 100 people associated with the Clinton-Gore campaign been permitted to flee the country or plead the Fifth Amendment? Why did the Justice Department thwart the investigation of espionage at the Los Alamos laboratories? ...He's at their mercy on the campaign corruption, too. The people who know best exactly how much money the Chinese government gave the Clinton campaign -- and how much Mr. Clinton personally knew about it -- are in hiding in China..... It's a wise caution. So let's just say that throughout the investigation of Chinese espionage, Mr. Clinton has acted like a man who would very much prefer the truth not be known. On March 19, Clinton declared, "Can I tell you there has been no espionage at the labs since I've been president? I can tell you that no one has reported to me that they suspect such a thing has occurred." He repeated his words later that day: "To the best of my knowledge, no one has said anything to me about any espionage which occurred by the Chinese against the labs, during my presidency." In fact, the Energy Department presented the cabinet with a report on Chinese espionage in November, 1998. The Clinton administration suppressed the report for fear of embarrassing the president during his impeachment trial. The president's account of when he learned of the spying, in other words, is a lie. But then, he sort of has to lie, doesn't he? For the truth is simply too horrible. The truth is that Mr. Clinton accepted millions of dollars from people he knew for a fact to be connected to the Chinese government. Wittingly or unwittingly, he accepted at least $300,000 (US) in gifts from the Chinese military itself. He took this money at the very same time that China was engaged in stealing America's most valuable secrets. And then, when the espionage was on the verge of being exposed, his attorney-general sabotaged the investigation to protect the president from political embarrassment. In the annals of presidential disgrace, it would be hard to identify anything worse...'

Augusta Chronicle 5/18/99 Editorial "...In August 1997, Reno denied the FBI permission to apply to a special federal court for a warrant to monitor the computer and tap the telephones of Los Alamos lab scientist Wen Ho Lee. (The FBI told her they suspected Lee was a Red spy.) By the way, the FBI has an incredible record of submitting successful requests to this court. In 1996, Reno reported 839 applications were made to the court, and all were approved! In 1997, all were OK'd save one (but not the Lee case). Reno turned down the FBI request to target Lee before it even got to the court.. What a disgusting spectacle to see a U.S. attorney general so partisan as to endanger national security in order to protect the admitted liar who appointed her....."

New York Times 5/20/99 DAVID JOHNSTON "...Senators at a closed-door hearing of the Intelligence Committee Wednesday lashed out at Attorney General Janet Reno for what they said was her failure to aggressively manage the case of a suspected spy for China at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons, government officials said. "You are responsible," one senator angrily told Reno in what the officials described as a hearing punctuated with acidic exchanges with the witnesses, who included FBI Director Louis Freeh and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder. Several senators repeated their conclusion that the Justice Department and the FBI botched the security inquiry into Wen Ho Lee, a nuclear scientist who worked for more than two decades at Los Alamos..... At the hearing, senators reviewed the Justice Department's decisions in 1997 to twice reject a request by FBI counterintelligence officials to seek a search warrant authorizing more aggressive investigative techniques from a special court established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. ....At the Justice Department, officials said the FBI managers did not aggressively present the case for a warrant as a top counterintelligence priority and were unwilling to deploy the large number of agents that would have been required for full-time surveillance that might have produced evidence to justify a FISA warrant. But FBI officials said the Justice Department took the case casually and failed to understand the difficulties in obtaining concrete evidence in a case in which the suspected espionage may have begun years earlier, before any investigation started...."

 

The State (Columbia, SC) 5/11/99 WILLIAM SAFIRE "...I called three friends in the departments of Energy, Defense and Justice and asked them to turn on their office computers and read to me the first banner that came on their screens. "Anyone using this system expressly consents to monitoring" is the message. Government employees using government equipment on government time thus waive privacy claims. Wen Ho Lee, the scientist who downloaded millions of lines of the nation's most secret codes to a computer easy to penetrate, also signed a waiver consenting to a search of his computer without his knowledge. And yet the Reno Justice Department denied the FBI's request for permission to search Lee's government computer. Eric Holder, Janet Reno's deputy, decided that a court search warrant was necessary -- but then refused to apply to the special foreign-surveillance court to get it. Of more than 700 such FBI requests a year, a surveillance official admits that a flat turndown is extremely rare. Why this one? Ms. Reno, who never met an investigation of Chinese penetration she didn't try to undermine, is suckering us with a claim that the denial of surveillance was to protect a criminal investigation. That is foo-foo dust. This was counterespionage, and the Criminal Division was kept in the dark...."

The State (Columbia, SC) 5/11/99 WILLIAM SAFIRE "...Making C.D. the scapegoat for the failure to protect America's deepest nuclear secrets is typical of the Clinton-Reno refusal to accept responsibility for endangering national security. Reno has appointed her personal Whitewash Brigade of favorite roundheels. This enables her to rebuff Congress and the press for months with the usual "I cannot comment because an inquiry is ongoing." Her non-investigation of this Lee, following last year's oh-so-gentle prosecution of another Lee for espionage, is part of a pattern of averting exposure of Clinton's national-security laxity. .....With Clintonites hunkered down and Justice covering up, Congress must do the digging. A report by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control showed what Chinese arms enterprises received U.S. technology over the past decade -- but could supply no names of U.S. exporters during the Clinton years. That's because that embarrassment is "proprietary information" at the Commerce Department...."

New York Post 5/11/99 Dick Morris "...THE Justice Department's efforts to block the FBI investigation of the worst episode of espionage in 50 years raises the most important issues of obstruction of justice by Attorney General Janet Reno and her deputy, Eric Holder. Incredibly, unbelievably, it now appears that Reno's department did more to protect atomic spy Won Ho Lee than was even suspected before. Not only did Justice deny the FBI access to Lee's computer; it denied it even though Lee had signed a waiver specifically allowing access to his computer files.... Well, how did Janet Reno come to stay on as attorney general in Clinton's second term? The president had planned to get rid of Reno once he won re-election. Having once complained to me that she was his ''worst mistake,'' he was determined to rid himself of this nuisance. He was sick and tired of her refusal to endorse tough administration initiatives on crime. In addition, as George Stephanopoulos has speculated, he might have been angry that she had intervened gratuitously and backed Kenneth Starr's assertion of criminal jurisdiction over Clinton ally and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. ....But then, shortly before the inauguration, Clinton met with Reno. He called me after their chat to report that he had told her that few attornies general had ever served for eight years and that he had indicated that he did not think it was a good idea for her to do so. He said she had ''pleaded to be allowed to stay on for one more year'' and that he had grudgingly agreed, with the understanding that she would then resign..... After winning that one-year reprieve, Janet Reno changed, suddenly metamorphosizing into a loyal administration advocate. She has stayed on the job ever since. Apparently, her service to the president in refraining from the appointment of independent counsels to investigate campaign fund-raising earned her a reprieve from her scheduled year-end departure. ...Her decision that the independent-counsel law did not mandate a special probe of campaign finance is a matter of interpretation and subject to reasonable disagreement. But Justice's refusal to let the FBI act on massive suspicion of espionage of the most vital sort is a breech of national security of the first magnitude. If politics entered into this decision, the issue becomes one of malfeasance in office..... Remember the political environment in early 1997. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) had just launched his heralded probe of campaign finances and predicted that he would find a deliberate plot by the Chinese government to influence the American election. What remained obscure was China's motive. The Democrats loudly derided Thompson for his suspicions of a Chinese plot. If Thompson had been aware of major and systematic Chinese spying and theft of our most vital secrets while he was conducting his hearings, there would have been hell to pay. Reno did a great political service to the president and disservice to America in not allowing the FBI to proceed. Between the time of her rejection of the FBI request for access and the actual inspection of Lee's computer last month, reports indicate that upwards of 300 files have been transferred and deleted...."

Freeper Right-Winger on Barr's examination of Chung 5/11/99 "...Reasonable intent was that the General gave the money for donations? That's right. Gerneal Ji was worried about chung alking to FBI. That's right. Is chung in danger? That's right. I look over my back every day. Damaging leak that endangered prominent witness. Barr wants DOJ investigaton abou tleak to NYT. Drunign conversations with MR. Lu, did he ask abou tyour family? Yes. Not concerned about family, but telling you to be concerned. That's correct. "IF you keep your mout shut, you will be safe". Attorney - Mr. Brockway ATTY in LA. Meetings with Mr. Lu and Brockway. Lot of FBI agents around in club. Lu suggested he use brock for atty. Attys fees would be taken care of - Lu. Lu tell you he recieved money from Beijing? In that convesation, Yes...." And "... Mr. Brockway told you he had invfluence in DOJ? Yes. #3 man. Brock also knew judge who would try chung. Chung didn't think so. tho. PRESIDENTIAL PARDON IF HE KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT! Brockway atty for watergate...." And "...When you testified that lu said he was getting money from general Ji, that's all on tape right? yes. audio or video. If soebody said, mr chung, DOJ didn't have any idea that money was coming from beijing, that wouldn't be true would it? He don't know. If money going to Lu, FBI should know. tapes. ...."

NY TIMES 5/12/99 TIM GOLDEN and JEFF GERTH "…Late in the spring of 1996, federal bank examiners discovered that the central bank of China was moving tens of millions of dollars into the United States, depositing it in a maze of accounts controlled by a fast-rising Chinese executive at a small California bank. The regulators struggled for almost two years to understand the transactions, guessing finally that they might have been intended to hide the private fortunes of Chinese officials. They turned their findings over to the Justice Department, the State Department and the FBI, but officials said no legal or diplomatic action was ever taken in the case….. The banker in California, Nan Nan Xu, turned out to have a series of ties to a Chinese military officer who has been identified as the conduit for at least $300,000 sent from the military's intelligence chief to a Democratic fund-raiser, officials said. And almost half of the $92 million that eventually flowed from China into the California bank, Far East National, came from a Hong Kong investment firm controlled in part by two men who American officials say have been associated with Chinese intelligence agencies. The purpose of the money remains a mystery. Some federal officials now suspect that it might have been intended to pay for Chinese intelligence operations. Others believe that it could have been amassed for political contributions or to purchase sensitive military technology…..But a close look at the case, based on interviews and confidential Government documents, shows that the Clinton administration was slow to pursue or even pull together the disparate leads uncovered over several years by different agencies…."

NY TIMES 5/12/99 TIM GOLDEN and JEFF GERTH "…The discovery of the Chinese money flow was the sort of information that typically sets off alarms among government investigators and the bank examiners alerted Justice Department officials early on. But officials said the department initially gave the matter only a cursory review, even as it was separately searching elsewhere for evidence of Chinese contributions to American political campaigns. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles examined the case last year, but then referred it back to the Justice Department in July, asking that its international-affairs section determine whether the transactions might involve criminal activity in China….The FBI -- which had helped Ms. Xu, a Chinese national, to gain legal residency in the United States in 1992 and then tried unsuccessfully to recruit her as an informer -- paid relatively little attention to her in the years when her banking activities became suspect, several officials said…… "This information was in the hands of the Department of Justice, Department of State, and the FBI," the Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Richard Shelby of Alabama, wrote in a letter last Friday asking the Senate Banking Committee to continue an inquiry into the matter begun by the Intelligence Committee last year. "We also provided this and additional information to the FBI and the Justice Department on numerous occasions during the course of our investigation," Shelby continued. "It is my understanding, however, that nobody from the federal campaign contributions investigation has followed up in any significant manner."

 

AP 5/20/99 H Josef Hebert "...Intelligence experts were worried three years ago about the possible theft of secrets about America's nuclear arsenal and believed the Los Alamos weapons lab was the most likely source, an Energy Department intelligence officer told a Senate panel Thursday.... "What was done, in short was nothing,'' Notra Trulock, acting deputy of the Energy Department's Office of Intelligence, said of the concerns expressed by intelligence experts in early 1996 about potential loss of the top-secret computer codes. Lawmakers have applauded Trulock for raising alarms as early as 1995 about the possible theft of nuclear secrets from weapons labs, including information in the 1980s about a sophisticated warhead known as the W-88......Trulock, appearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, described repeated attempts in early 1997 to bring his concerns about espionage and lax security at weapons labs to then-Energy Secretary Federico Pena. He said that he was repeatedly thwarted by senior DOE officials, including Pena's deputy, Elizabeth Moler, and that Pena knew nothing of the espionage concerns for about six months. Trulock in the past also has accused Moler of muzzling him when he tried to testify before Congress..... Trulock, who was director of the Office of Intelligence from 1994 into early 1998, said his concerns about espionage at the labs were viewed in 1997 with skepticism and "outright denial'' among senior DOE officials. They were dismissed as views of "Cold War warriors,'' said Trulock..... Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the committee chairman, derided the "cavalier attitude about security'' described by Trulock and suggested that senior administration officials should not be let off the hook..... Attorney General Janet Reno announced on Thursday that a veteran prosecutor, Randy Bellows, would head a Justice Department investigation into whether Justice or the FBI made any mistakes in the Wen Ho Lee investigation, dating to 1996...."

Koenig's International News 5/19/99 Charles Smith "... The Galaxy New Technology deal went public in 1996, drawing reams of press and a General Accounting Office, or GAO, report. According to the GAO, "Defense Department officials told us that broadband telecommunications equipment could be used to improve the Chinese military's command and control communications networks." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois tried to prompt an investigation in 1997 by writing Attorney General Janet Reno a letter outlining his concerns about Galaxy. According to Hyde's letter to Reno, "In 1994, sophisticated telecommunications technology was transferred to a U.S.-Chinese joint venture called HUA MEI, in which the Chinese partner is an entity controlled by the Chinese military. This particular transfer included fiber-optic communications equipment which is used for high-speed, secure communications over long distances." Despite the GAO report, Hyde's letter, a furious Congress and embarrassing press reports, Reno did nothing...."

AP 5/24/99 Michael J. Sniffen "....Reno's statement disclosed that the FBI's 1997 request for a surveillance warrant on Lee ``did not contain a request to search any computer.'' ....In addition, a senior Justice official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI was never informed by the Energy Department that Lee had signed a waiver that would have allowed agents to search his computer without a warrant.... She said career Justice lawyers rejected the FBI's warrant application. ``Although I was not apprised of the details of the case at the time the decision was made, I have reviewed the decision ... and fully support it,'' Reno wrote..... A senior FBI official, requesting anonymity, has said, ``We didn't have any real evidence of espionage. All we knew was the Energy Department put him on a list of people who had access to this information and he had made a trip to China to give a lecture.'' To get a warrant, the act requires probable cause to believe a citizen is knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence-gathering for a foreign power. ...."

MSNBC 5/21/99 Brokaw and Cox "... Brokaw: "Is the Hughes Corporation and Loral going be embarrassed when this report comes out?" Cox: "We were able to interview the scientist who actually went over to Beijing and who met with the PRC scientists that came to America, and talking about their discussions and what they covered. And we found, beyond the fact that a great deal of technical information was illegally shared that will in fact improve the reliability of military space lift rockets in the PRC, that the way that this activity was conducted by both Hughes and Loral was illegal. Brokaw: "Absolutely illegal. Criminally illegal?" Cox: "There is no question that it was deliberate and that it was an intentional avoidance of our export control regime. I think it will be much easier for our select committee to conclude that this corporate conduct was wrong, than perhaps it will be for the Department of Justice to pluck a particular individual out of the corporate structure and say, "This person uniquely is responsible and should be put behind bars." But the Department of Justice is looking at this. And they have had it under criminal investigation now for some time." Brokaw: "Would you expect an indictment will be brought against Loral ...?" Cox: "Honestly, I don't know. Because what is going on inside the Department of Justice remains completely opaque to us on the Select Committee." Brokaw: "But if there are no indictments, based on what you know, will you be outraged by that?" Cox: "Honestly, I can't tell you what's going on inside the Department of Justice because I don't know. And they know a lot more about the grounds for prosecution than I do." Brokaw: "But Senator Lott and others have been very quick to criticize Janet Reno and the Justice Department for not making a more vigorous prosecution of some of the transfer of that technology to China and the corporations involved." Cox: "Well, there's no question that the Department of Justice, which after all controls, among other things, the FBI, and is responsible for counter-intelligence generally in the United States, has done a poor job of sharing information, not just with Congress, but within the executive branch. .... So that the FBI director was sometimes kept in the dark about what was going on in a smaller investigation inside the Department of Justice. So the CIA director was not told information that had a significant national security aspect to it. If we don't share that information inside the executive branch, we're never going to be able to arrest the kind of espionage that we've seen. And we'll never be able to solve the cases once they occur." ..."

Foxnews 5/24/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno, under pressure to resign over handling of alleged nuclear spying by China, Monday defended the Justice Department's refusal to approve FBI requests for a wiretap of a suspect at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "The Justice Department has not - nor will it - authorize such intrusions when, as in this case, the standards of the Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) have not been met,'' Reno said in a written statement..... Reno's statement also said that the FBI's 1997 request for surveillance of Lee "did not contain a request to search any computer.'' .....Republicans in Congress called for Reno to resign on the eve of the release of a lengthy report by a special House committee detailing China's alleged theft of nuclear and military secrets. "I believe the Justice Department is adrift,'' said Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, of Alabama, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I believe that the attorney general ought to resign and she ought to take her top lieutenants with her.'' Even one staunch Democrat has suggested Reno ought to consider stepping down. Sen. Robert Torricelli, of New Jersey said there was "something wrong when the United States Congress on a bipartisan basis has so little confidence in the chief law enforcement officer of the United States.'' ...."

Freeper Freedom'sworthit reports 5/24/99 on Inhofe v Wexler "...Inhofe, the Senator the White House fears the most. Clinton concealed this Chinese teachery from 1995, maybe 1996.... HE IS LYING, CLINTON IS LYING UNDER OATH, SAYS INHOFE! This is a "cover up"! 4400 Visitors were allowed into the labs without background checks. Tap the phone - 700 requests every year to tap phones...all are approved - this one was not approved. Why? Wexler says given the "Constitutional rights" this was not done...the Attorney General, the one who incinerated the compound at Waco....what about the other 700 people who were wiretapped.....she didn't care about the Constitutional rights of those people, did she....(oh, this is too good.... Wexler: "Let's let the investigation occur."<----It happened under Repubs and Dems and let's fix the problem not the blame will be the spin! Inhoffe countered that by saying "Lies matter." ...Way to go, Senator! But, please watch your propeller!!!! ..."

Fox 5/24/99 "...."I believe it is time (for Reno to quit), considering her role, or her lack of role, trying to defend the indefensible. It is time for new leadership at the Justice Department,'' Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation.'' "I believe the attorney general ought to resign, and she ought to take her top lieutenants with her. She ought to do it now for the sake of the country,'' the Alabama Republican added. .... Shelby accused the Justice Department of being adrift and said many members of Congress had little confidence in its leadership.... "I think it is time for President Clinton to have a conversation with the attorney general about her ability to perform her duties and whether or not it is in the national interest for her to continue,'' Torricelli told CBS..... Congressional investigators have also raised questions about when Clinton and other senior administration officials were told of the spying allegations. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she had not been briefed on the nuclear espionage case before 1999. "I found out about it earlier this year,'' Albright told CBS. "I was not briefed. That was wrong, and I made that clear, and that has been rectified.'' ..... "

New York Post 5/24/99 VINCENT MORRIS "...."It's time for new leadership at the Justice Department. I believe that the attorney general ought to resign, and she ought to take her top lieutenants with her," said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), whose Senate Intelligence Committee is probing Chinese espionage....."

AP Jim Abrams 5/24/99 "...Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, appearing with Shelby on CBS' "Face the Nation,'' also said President Clinton should talk with Reno about possibly stepping down. "There is something wrong when the United States Congress on a bipartisan basis has so little confidence in the chief law enforcement officer of the United States,'' said Torricelli, who customarily supports administration policies. "I think it's time for President Clinton to have a conversation with the attorney general about her ability to perform her duties and whether or not it is in the national interest for her to continue,'' he said. Reno has long been under fire from GOP lawmakers for her refusal to have an independent counsel investigate charges the Chinese funneled illegal contributions to Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign. This time, the issue is the Justice Department's refusal to approve FBI requests for a wiretap of Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at the Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear weapons laboratory who is suspected of passing secrets to Beijing. Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said Reno had reviewed the decision and fully supported it. "The Justice Department cannot and must not authorize intrusion by the government into the lives of its citizens when the evidence presented as in this case fails to meet the standards established by the Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,'' Marlin said....."

MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/ 5/24/99 Freeper A Whitewater Researcher "...EXCERPTS: "...Chinese spies stole classified information on every intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead in the U.S. arsenal, sources familiar with a congressional report on Beijing's quest for military secrets told NBC News...The 700-page report, which includes several startling security breaches, is expected to be released on Tuesday....THE SOURCES...said the nine-member House select committee that investigated the alleged spying concluded that the stolen technology - including classified information on the Trident, Peacekeeper and Minuteman III warheads - will be incorporated into a new generation of Chinese ICBMs as early as 2002....China:...controlled several thousand U.S. "front companies" to obtain American technology for military purposes...Stole design information for the neutron bomb....MSNBC Live Vote: Should Janet Reno resign for her handling of espionage allegations?...Yes, she dropped the ball 78%...No, Republicans are trying to make her the scapegoat 22%..." ...."

Judicial Watch Press Release 5/21/99 "...By allowing Trie to escape punishment for obstructing a Senate investigation and funneling illegal donations to the Democratic National Committee in exchange for favors from Bill Clinton, Janet Reno and her corrupt Justice Department have saved Bill Clinton and the DNC from further damaging revelations about their illegal fundraising practices that would have surely come out during upcoming trials of Trie. Judicial Watch also announced today that it will seek Court permission to question Charlie Trie about his participation in the 1994 Commerce Department trade mission trip to China and related matters...."

Washington Times 5/21/99 Jerry Seper "...Attorney General Janet Reno, whose Justice Department has been criticized for its investigation of espionage at U.S. nuclear laboratories, Thursday named a veteran federal prosecutor to head a task force to determine whether the probe was mishandled. At her weekly press briefing, Miss Reno said she appointed Randy Bellows, a senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Va., to head the internal probe, which could prove to be critical of both Justice Department and FBI officials..... In the task force probe, Miss Reno said she wants to know whether "everything was done right" during the FBI's investigation of Wen Ho Lee, the Los Alamos scientist suspected of passing U.S. nuclear weapons secrets to China..... FBI officials, including Director Louis J. Freeh, have blamed Justice Department prosecutors for mishandling the probe. Justice Department officials have blamed the FBI's National Security Division. The White House contends the problem began in previous administrations.....

The New Australian 5/24/99 Peter Zhang No 120 ".... I revealed (No. 118, 10- 16 May 1999) that officials had confided in me that Clinton had appointed Reno has his 'gatekeeper' with instructions to block investigations into Chinese spying activities, not to mention his campaign funding allegations. What is important is that Chinese officials know and that believe Clinton is blackmailing Reno. I'm absolutely sure that they did not come by this information via Clinton. ....It seems that this knowledge strengthened Beijing's confidence that it would be granted sufficient protection by Reno's Justice Department to continue its espionage activities..."

AP 5/25/99 "...Former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang is cooperating with the Justice Department's probe of campaign financing and will plead guilty to conspiracy to make illegal contributions, two legal sources said today. Huang's ``cooperation has been going on for several months and it is with several independent counsels as well as the Justice Department,'' said one of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.... The one count filed today charged Huang with conspiring to defraud the Federal Election Commission by causing Lippo Group employees to donate money that was reimbursed by the Lippo Group in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Justice official added. The conspiracy charge is for two campaign contributions totaling less than $10,000 made in the early 1990s, said the other source. The other source said that under a special federal criminal procedure, the Justice Department has agreed to seek a sentence of one year of probation for Huang with a small fine and some community service....A key part of Huang's agreement is that the Justice Department will publicly acknowledge there is no evidence that he engaged in espionage or any violations of national security laws, said the source familiar with the arrangement. In addition, the government has written a letter in support of the restoration of Huang's voting rights..... "

Manchester Union Leader 5/25/99 Richard Lessner "...Either the Clinton administration is guilty of gross incompetence verging on the criminally negligent, or its actions were treasonous. Mere incompetence cannot adequately explain the mind-boggling breakdown in national security at the country's top secret nuclear weapons laboratories, or the Justice Department's failure to take action upon learning of Red China's possible espionage. Something more than mere bungling was going on here. In 1996, Attorney General Janet Reno repeatedly and personally rejected FBI requests for wire taps and search warrants of suspected spy Wen Ho Lee's telephone, computers and office at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab. A spokesman for Ms. Reno claims she rejected the requests on constitutional grounds, that the FBI's evidence against Lee was insufficient. This is total bunkum. Ms. Reno does not issue search warrants or wire taps, federal courts do. Indeed, there is a special court specifically designated to deal with such requests involving national security and sensitive intelligence matters. Nothing prevented Ms. Reno from sending the FBI's request to this court, even if she had doubts regarding probable cause. A federal judge, not AG Reno, should have made this call. Indeed, Ms. Reno's solicitude for Lee's constitutional rights is unpersuasive because this was the one and only such request that she has rejected over her entire term in office as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. It is reminiscent of her rejection of the request from FBI Director Louis Freeh and her hand-picked special investigator, Charles La Bella, for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the fund-raising activities of the Clinton-Gore campaign and the illegal donations that flowed from Red China's military and shady Asian businessmen linked to Beijing. It may be tempting to lay the blame for all this off on the hapless attorney general, but she was only doing the bidding of her boss, Bill Clinton. Ms. Reno all along has been covering up for the President's misdeeds. The national security breakdowns did not begin with the Wen Ho Lee investigation...."

New York Post 5/25/99 "....The catalogue of Reno's professional lapses is extensive and lamentable. They begin way back in the earliest days of her tenure. Literally just a few weeks after she took office came Reno's decision to OK the storming of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. Eighty people,including many children, died in the resulting inferno. Reno never gave a satisfactory explanation of why the assault was ordered. On her watch, Justice became the ''home alone'' department as major posts went unfilled for months and even years. She also has acquiesced in the unconstitutional tenure of Bill Lann Lee, who has been filling the post of assistant attorney general for civil rights without Senate confirmation. During the Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky imbroglios, Reno unhesitatingly threw the Justice Department's weight behind every worthless delaying tactic the White House Counsel's Office could think of, including the absurd ''presidential protection privilege'' that sought to block the testimony of Secret Service agents. When The Washington Post detailed the total chaos surrounding Justice's investigation of illegal foreign fund-raising by the Clinton White House, Reno brought in Charles La Bella, an experienced prosecutor in the San Diego U.S. attorney's office. When La Bella did the unexpected and recommended a special prosecutor, however, Reno ignored his advice and then nixed his appointment as U.S. attorney. Enough. Reno has demonstrated she is an incompetent at best and a ready, willing and able accomplice in the subversion of justice and national security at worst. The faster she is disposed of, the faster the American people will get some answers...."

Washington Times 5/25/99 Editorial "...Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Mr. Torricelli said how disgusted he was over the Justice Department's repeated failure to pursue FBI requests for secret warrants for wiretaps in 1997. Those wiretaps would have given the FBI access to an office computer and the telephone of a scientist working at the Los Alamos nuclear-weapons laboratory whom the FBI was investigating for espionage. Accordingly, the FBI did not gain access to the suspected spy's computer until the suspect was fired in March 1999. Then, the FBI learned that the suspect had downloaded into his unclassified office computer more than 1,000 computer files from the laboratory's classified computer system. Those files contained America's most sensitive nuclear secrets. "[T]his is potentially the greatest failure of American intelligence in our history," Mr. Torricelli declared. "It is an extraordinary lapse of judgment in the highest levels of law enforcement, with consequences for a full generation." Asked if Miss Reno should resign, the New Jersey senator responded, "I think the failures of judgment by the attorney general of the United States are inexplicable. I do not know how she could explain the failures to provide this wiretap, despite overwhelming evidence that there was probable cause and that the national security was being compromised." Pressed to say whether Miss Reno should resign, Mr. Torricelli bluntly replied, "I think it's time for President Clinton to have a conversation with the attorney general about her ability to perform her duties and whether or not it's in the national interest for her to continue." For the few who still didn't get it, he said he was not the only Democrat disillusioned by Miss Reno: "[T]here is something wrong when the United States Congress on a bipartisan basis has so little confidence in the chief law enforcement officer of the United States." Indeed, Sen. Bob Kerrey, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, agreed with Mr. Torricelli's assertions that there was probable cause to obtain the wiretap and that national security was being compromised. "Most of us on the [intelligence] committee see [the FBI's wiretap request] as something that should have been granted," Mr. Kerrey noted two weeks ago, after his committee grilled Miss Reno. "We don't understand why the surveillance opportunity wasn't presented," Mr. Kerrey complained on May 12....."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 5/24/99 Robert Novak "...Habitual Republican lack of discipline and strategy collided last Thursday with a barely hidden Democratic agenda of eventual gun confiscation. The result was a political windfall that had Democrats giddy. Having broken a 50-50 Senate tie to pass the Democratic gun-control proposal, Vice President Al Gore proclaimed "a turning point for our country." Actually, the new restrictions were modest. But this was the first gun-control legislation approved in Congress since the Republicans took over in 1995, and it was a major defeat for the National Rifle Association. On one side was a Republican Party desperately afraid of losing its majority and terrified by adverse news media reaction. On the other side were Democrats newly confident that their anti-gun dogmas are popular..... But at a May 5 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Janet Reno fostered the camel's nose theory. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) asked whether there will be any improvement in sluggish federal prosecution of weapons violations. "I can't promise you improvement in numbers," Reno responded. Her priority was controlling possession of guns, not their use...."

 

5/25/99 Laurence McQuillan Reuters "..."I think Sandy Berger should resign," said powerful Texas Republican Rep. Dick Armey of the White House national security adviser faulted for failing to act when the allegations first reached him in 1996. "I just think Sandy Berger needs to stand up and accept his responsibility," said Armey. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno also drew the ire of critics outraged that she rejected FBI requests to wiretap one of the prime suspects in the spy case. "Janet Reno has always said that she's accountable, and she certainly is," said Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "She's accountable to the people ... for her actions or inactions, and there are a lot of inactions there," he told CNN. "And I believe it's time for her to go, and now." White House officials said Clinton has "full confidence" in both Berger and Reno..... Republican critics have accused the Clinton White House of trying to downplay the significance of the spying because it interfered with its policy of engagement with Beijing. "The report shows the total lack of coordination with the administration and a complete failure to effectively bring these breaches of security to a halt," said Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination next year. Another Republican White House aspirant, Texas Gov. George Bush, complained that "this administration apparently did not take seriously, did not react properly and it is still trying to minimize the scope and extent of the damage." ...."

Softwar.com 5/25/99 "...However, according to the 100 page Federal indictment from one of the key undercover agents, Chen and Ma had to call back to PLA Headquarters in Beijing to obtain the 2,000 machine guns. According to the Custom agent's deposition, Chen and Ma had difficulty in getting the "barrels" because they required "higher-level permission". Yet, Poly Technology Executive Director, Xie Datong, stated on the record that the machine gun transfer did not require permission from the Chinese General Staff. Xie Datong, also a corporate officer of Poly's American subsidiary PTK, claimed the weapons were transferred from stockpiles from the General Logistics Division of the PLA. Whether Chinese Generals attempted to smuggle machine guns into America may never be answered. Ma and company fled the country. Gun runner Robert Ma, and all of the Chinese executives that served Poly Tech, escaped the grasp of the inept Janet Reno and Louis Freeh. Ma was reportedly one step ahead of FBI agents who had a warrant for his arrest. Clearly, the Chinese Generals made a profit from illegal gun smuggling. President Jiang Zemin certainly has no incentive to return Robert Ma into the hands of U.S. justice, nor has Bill Clinton made any attempt to ask his "strategic" partners in Beijing...."

Softwar.com 5/25/99 "...However, the Poly Tech story goes deeper than just a few Chinese Generals and a princeling or two. According to another document obtained from the Commerce Dept., the 2,000 machine guns were to be transferred to the Long Beach port in California onboard the COSCO ship, the Princess Bride. However, "a leak from the State Dept alerted the company, which then canceled the delivery." "COSCO," according to Defense Department intelligence officials "operates a fleet of ELINT (electronic intelligence) trawlers for the PRC government... When China delivers missiles or chemical agents to the Middle East, specially outfitted COSCO ships deliver them."

Softwar.com 5/25/99 "...However, according to the 100 page Federal indictment from one of the key undercover agents, Chen and Ma had to call back to PLA Headquarters in Beijing to obtain the 2,000 machine guns. According to the Custom agent's deposition, Chen and Ma had difficulty in getting the "barrels" because they required "higher-level permission". Yet, Poly Technology Executive Director, Xie Datong, stated on the record that the machine gun transfer did not require permission from the Chinese General Staff. Xie Datong, also a corporate officer of Poly's American subsidiary PTK, claimed the weapons were transferred from stockpiles from the General Logistics Division of the PLA. Whether Chinese Generals attempted to smuggle machine guns into America may never be answered. Ma and company fled the country. Gun runner Robert Ma, and all of the Chinese executives that served Poly Tech, escaped the grasp of the inept Janet Reno and Louis Freeh. Ma was reportedly one step ahead of FBI agents who had a warrant for his arrest. Clearly, the Chinese Generals made a profit from illegal gun smuggling. President Jiang Zemin certainly has no incentive to return Robert Ma into the hands of U.S. justice, nor has Bill Clinton made any attempt to ask his "strategic" partners in Beijing...."

Softwar.com 5/25/99 "...However, the Poly Tech story goes deeper than just a few Chinese Generals and a princeling or two. According to another document obtained from the Commerce Dept., the 2,000 machine guns were to be transferred to the Long Beach port in California onboard the COSCO ship, the Princess Bride. However, "a leak from the State Dept alerted the company, which then canceled the delivery." "COSCO," according to Defense Department intelligence officials "operates a fleet of ELINT (electronic intelligence) trawlers for the PRC government... When China delivers missiles or chemical agents to the Middle East, specially outfitted COSCO ships deliver them."

Augusta Chronicle 5/26/99 Editorial "...Now that the bipartisan Cox report over massive Communist Chinese contributions and espionage has exploded like a bombshell on Capitol Hill, we are already hearing the ``T'' word uttered: Treason. How the Clinton administration allowed China to acquire, in the words of the report, ``super-computers to simulate nuclear tests (and) satellite technology that might help aim ballistic missiles more accurately ... against the United States and its allies'' is the story of an incredible betrayal of our national security! While it's true thefts started in the late '80s during the Reagan-Bush administrations, the stepped-up stealing of secrets regarding our seven major warheads, as well as the neutron bomb, occurred on Clinton's watch. Alarmingly, the Cox report concludes the new Chinese weapons are likely to be ``on a par with our own.'' Maybe the only positive fallout is that Clinton's misguided policy of treating the Red butchers of Beijing as a ``strategic partner'' is in shambles. Even some longtime Democratic Clinton defenders are now appalled at the greed and treachery of some leading American corporations/ Democratic donors. Perhaps another good thing to come will be the removal of White House National Security Adviser Sandy Berger (once a registered agent of China) and Attorney General Janet Reno, who actually blocked FBI investigations and wire-taps of Chinese spies at our national laboratories. Just as the old Roman senator ended his every speech with ``Carthage Must Be Destroyed'' so, too, should the speeches of our senators end with ``Berger and Reno Must Be Fired.'' ...."

Chicago Tribune 5/27/99 Naftali Bendavid "...Encased in vaultlike security and sheltered by extraordinary secrecy, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the most clandestine pocket of the U.S. legal system, is receiving a rare dose of public attention amid the controversy about whether Atty. Gen. Janet Reno did enough to pursue alleged Chinese espionage. The top-secret tribunal, where FBI agents seek permission to use wiretaps in national security cases, operates on the sixth floor of Justice Department headquarters behind a series of security doors reminiscent of the "Get Smart" television show's introductory scenes. Inside, the legal system's ordinary rules evaporate in the name of national security: There are no defense lawyers, and government lawyers have lost only once. Lawmakers have attacked Reno in recent days for her refusal to go into the windowless, surveillance-proof courtroom in 1997, as the FBI wanted her to, and seek a wiretap on Wen Ho Lee, a former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory suspected of passing secrets to China. Reno has fiercely defended her decision not to seek the wiretap. But the political back-and-forth does not reflect the complexity of the system by which the FBI and other agencies get permission to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens in the name of national security. Unlike ordinary wiretap authority, this system relies less on the familiar tenets of law and order than on a nation's fundamental right to protect itself. Many say it is far easier to get wiretapping authority from the special intelligence court than from an ordinary criminal court. Since its creation two decades ago, the court has approved 11,210 of the 11,211 national security wiretaps requested by the Justice Department -- and rejected just one. [The only one rejected was Wen Ho Lee]... The seven-judge FISA court -- named for the law that created it, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- was established in 1978 as a reaction to the "black-bag jobs" of the Watergate era and the FBI's COINTELPRO investigations of civil-rights activists and others. In the wake of these abuses, Congress decided that the FBI and National Security Agency would no longer have unfettered freedom to spy on U.S. citizens, resident aliens, foreign embassies and others in the name of national security. Now, one of the FISA judges flies to Washington every two weeks to sit in the vaultlike courtroom and hear Justice Department lawyers make their case for the wiretaps. Some say these jurists are so dazzled by the glamor of spy wiretaps that they can't say no.... Royce Lamberth, a federal judge in Washington who serves as the FISA court's current chief judge, was traveling and could not be reached for comment. Harold A. Baker, a judge from Urbana, Ill., who also sits on the FISA court, did not return a call.....When the FBI wants to wiretap someone, it sends over a two- or three-page document known as a letterhead memorandum, signed by the assistant FBI director for national security. A special office at the Justice Department -- the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, or OIPR -- decides whether to recommend to Reno that she seek the wiretap. In the Lee case, the office recommended that Reno not do so, and she didn't. Reno was probably not even informed of the request; that is typical when OIPR recommends against a wiretap. Still, Reno faced fierce recriminations earlier this week for the department's inaction....The Justice Department's critics say Reno was obligated to take the Lee case to the FISA court and let the judges sort out the legitimacy of the wiretap, which is their job. "The Lee case was a terrible mistake, both by OIPR and by the FBI in not following up after it was turned down," said Stewart Baker, former chief counsel at the National Security Agency, which also conducts counterintelligence. "We may have all paid a very high price for OIPR's vigilance in protecting the rights of suspected spies."..."

Fox Newswires/AP 5/27/99 Tom Raum "...Attorney General Janet Reno said today Justice Department and FBI subordinates should have come to her two years ago when they disagreed over whether to wiretap a nuclear weapons scientist suspected of spying for China. "Where there is something serious where (FBI Director) Louis Freeh disagrees with the findings (of Justice officials) it should be discussed at my level,'' Reno told her weekly news conference...... Reno explained that when the FBI first sought to wiretap Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-born scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the application for a warrant was rejected by Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. "The facts presented in 1997 were insufficient to support a finding of probable cause'' to believe that Lee was knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence-gathering on behalf of a foreign power, Reno said. That is the standard required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and by the Constitution. Reno explained that then-Assistant FBI Director John Lewis complained about that decision to her and she asked Justice's Executive Office for National Security to review the decision. Daniel Seikaly of that office agreed with the earlier decision and his ruling was transmitted to the FBI, Reno said. Seikaly never took the matter up with Reno or with the deputy attorney general, she said. "I assumed since I did not hear again from the FBI that it was resolved to their satisfaction,'' Reno said. Indeed, a senior FBI official has said the bureau itself doubted it had sufficient evidence for a warrant. This official said agents basically had three facts: the Energy Department listed Lee as among those officials who knew about the W-88 nuclear warhead that China had obtained data about, that Lee had traveled to China to give lectures and that he had once telephoned another laboratory scientist under suspicion of spying, this official has said..... "

Philadelphia Daily News 5/27/99 "...Even when the FBI belatedly got suspicious and, in 1996, asked for permission to look at Lee's computer, it was turned down. The Justice Department maintained there wasn't enough evidence to ask for a warrant from a special foreign surveillance court - although the court rarely turns down such requests. Even adjusting for 20-20 hindsight, this looks like breathtaking incompetence. Even now, though, Attorney General Janet Reno doesn't get it. Her spokesman is still talking about Lee's constitutional rights when the issue wasn't about prosecuting one alleged spy but about preventing wholesale espionage...."

Chicago Tribune 5/27/99 Robert Novak "... Something only hinted at in the 908 pages of the Cox committee report released Tuesday suggests that the strange, always shaky tenure of Janet Reno as attorney general could be coming to an end. Closed-door testimony to the Senate a week ago revealed that the Justice Department rejected two FBI requests in 1997 to wiretap suspected Chinese spy Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Laboratory. Reno signed off on those refusals, renewing Republican demands for her resignation and evoking harsh words from a very important Democrat: Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey..... Furthermore, in closed-door testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 19, Justice Department and FBI officials blamed each other for this 1997 course of events: FBI counterintelligence asked Justice, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for wiretaps and other listening devices to gather evidence on Lee. Justice said no, claiming no "probable cause." The FBI tried again, and the answer was still no...... But the more sophisticated appraisal in GOP circles was that while the president might seem to be a typically ungrateful politician, he would not sack the attorney general who for more than two years has protected him from an independent counsel on campaign-finance irregularities. Indeed, White House aides privately have said the decision against wiretaps was made not by Reno but by Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, with the attorney general merely signing off..... Indeed, her Republican critics on Capitol Hill say the issue is less a matter of the attorney general making a wrong decision than of Reno being out of the decision loop, which would be the greater evil. "I don't think we have had an attorney general for some time," said one GOP senator who has worked closely with Reno....."

abcnews.com 5/27/99 "... CHRIS BURY (VO) In the fall of 1997, soon after LaBella took over, Janet Reno portrayed the campaign finance task force as part of one big happy family at the Justice Department. JANET RENO, ATTORNEY GENERAL There is a real spirit of teamwork now and I feel very gratified by that. ....CHARLES LABELLA I can't talk about the evidence per se. But what I can tell you is, and as far as leading to the White House, we followed every lead to wherever it went, whether it led to the White House, whether it led to a foreign country, wherever it led we followed those leads and we did it as aggressively as we could. There were certain patterns that we saw concerning the alleged violations of campaign financing laws and we followed those. CHRIS BURY (on camera) LaBella's dilemma was how to investigate the role of the White House, if any. Any credible evidence against President Clinton, Vice President Gore or senior officials could trigger the law requiring an independent counsel, that is, if the attorney general agreed. But that same statute also limited the tools LaBella could use to investigate those high ranking officials. ....CHARLES LABELLA Ultimately, I concluded that given all the information we had, given the credibility of the information that we had, the Independent Counsel Act should be triggered. CHRIS BURY (VO) Little did LaBella know that coming to that conclusion would bring his career as a federal prosecutor to an end. ..... CHARLES LABELLA There are people with political agendas, there are people with personal agendas, there are people with bureaucratic agendas and I, in my stint in Washington, was fortunate enough to offend all three. .... JANET RENO I have not reached a conclusion. I would not comment on that. I am continuing to review the matter. CHRIS BURY (VO) In public, the attorney general promised again and again to seriously consider LaBella's advice. In private, he now says, it was abundantly clear her mind was already made up. CHARLES LABELLA That was one of the first indications, when nobody called me after I handed my report in. Nobody called me to say well, what did you mean when you wrote this? Because we're looking, we're following what you wrote. We're trying to analyze it. What did you mean when you wrote this? Or was there more to it than what you put in the four corners of this piece of paper? What made you think ...CHRIS BURY (interviewing) And nobody talked to you? CHARLES LABELLA Nobody talked to me about that. Nobody ever debriefed me on my report. CHRIS BURY (VO) But LaBella was hardly a voice in the wilderness. UNIDENTIFIED POLITICIAN Would it be fair to say that you agree with his conclusions? LOUIS FREEH, FBI DIRECTOR I do. UNIDENTIFIED POLITICIAN And would it be fair to say that he makes a very compelling case for an independent counsel given the facts to date? LOUIS FREEH I agree with his recommendations. CHRIS BURY (VO) In testimony before Congress, the head of the FBI and the chief investigator on the campaign finance task force also backed LaBella's report. UNIDENTIFIED POLITICIAN Do you concur with the recommendations of Director Freeh and Mr LaBella? UNIDENTIFIED JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE I do, yes, sir. ..... CHRIS BURY (interviewing) You said your perception was that Justice was angry at you? CHARLES LABELLA Yeah. CHRIS BURY Why? Why were they angry? CHARLES LABELLA Because I had put Justice apparently in a difficult position. I had recommended some course of action that Justice ultimately did not want and did not take and I, the fact that I recommended it and Louis Freeh recommended the same course of action independently caused them some problems because they really couldn't discredit us. We're both fairly credible, you know, former prosecutors...... TED KOPPEL With this big unanswered question that even you don't feel free to answer at this date. When is the American public ever going to find out, and let me put it very bluntly, whether the President was dirty on this and whether the vice president was dirty on this? CHARLES LABELLA I think as far as my report goes, there were sections that we agreed were appropriate to show the ranking members of Congress, the House and the Senate, and we did that in September. There are portions that don't contain what we call federal grand jury 6E secrecy materials. It's up to the Justice Department whether or not to disclose those bits of information. As far as the evidence in the particular cases, given the law I don't think those will ever see the light of day. I think my report will remain secret. The arguments that I made will remain secret. I'm certainly not going to reveal them because I have a loyalty to the Department of Justice and I have a professional obligation not to. ...."

5/27/99 AP Michael Sniffen "...Attorney General Janet Reno faulted Justice Department and FBI subordinates today for not coming to her two years ago with their disagreement over whether to wiretap a nuclear weapons scientist suspected of spying for China. ``Where there is something serious, where (FBI) Director (Louis) Freeh disagrees with the findings (of Justice officials), I think that it should be discussed at my level,'' Reno told her weekly news conference. ``I was not briefed on the details.''.... "

The Boston Globe 5/26/99 Michael Kranish "...When a Senate panel two years ago investigated allegations that foreign money was given to the Democratic Party, it hoped to nail down the specifics with testimony from three fund-raisers with connections to the Chinese government. But all three men refused to testify without being granted immunity. Now, the same three men, John Huang, Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie and Johnny Chung, are secretly telling what they know to the Justice Department in exchange for guilty pleas to relatively minor offenses..... ``It looks bad,'' said Senator Fred Thompson, the Tennessee Republican who headed the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee investigation in 1997. He noted Huang reportedly has not implicated ``higher-ups.'' ``If this is the kind of cooperation they are getting for a probation sentence, it heightens our concern,'' he said in an interview. Thompson said he plans to launch a new investigation focusing on why the Justice Department decided to plea bargain. Thompson often has said an independent counsel should be appointed to examine the campaign finance matter because the administration has a vested interest in closing the probe...."

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....."

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....."

Boston Herald 5/27/99 Rachelle Cohen "....Yes, the same John Huang who this week, according to the Justice Department, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy on the fund-raising charges and to cooperate on a number of other investigations. Huang will get a year's probation, pay a small fine and perhaps do some community service. The Justice Department insists he engaged in no espionage, economic or otherwise, on behalf of the Chinese. The Cox committee report doesn't sound quite so sure. In late 1993 Huang, by then a pal of Bill Clinton's for some 20 years, was given the job of principal deputy assistant secretary of commerce for international economic policy. Before that he had worked for the Lippo Group. The Cox report notes, ``Lippo's principal partner in the PRC [People's Republic of China] is China Resources (Holdings) Co., a PRC-owned corporation based in Hong Kong.'' China Resources has been identified by government investigators as ``an agent of espionage, economic, military and political.'' China Resources also shares a controlling interest in a PRC-run telecommunications satellite company, which through yet another firm wanted to launch Hughes satellites on Chinese rockets. That, of course, needed to be OK'd by the Commerce Department. So, we have a high-ranking Commerce Department official - Huang - who had only recently left a company directly linked to a Chinese-based firm with a reputation for using espionage to get what it wanted. Oh, and, of course, Huang had top secret security clearance and access to classified materials sent to his supervisor, who had an even higher level security clearance. The Cox report notes that during the 18 months Huang was at Commerce he ``called Lippo Bank 232 times, in addition to 29 calls or faxes to Lippo Headquarters in Indonesia.'' The committee also found Huang made 61 calls to a Lippo consultant and 72 calls to a Lippo joint venture partner. (Espionage opportunities aside, this bozo ought to be forced to repay the taxpayers his government salary.) Then it really gets good. Two or three times a week Huang left his Commerce Department office, walked across the street to an office rented by an Arkansas-based brokerage firm with ``significant ties to the Lippo Group'' where he ``regularly'' received packages and faxes addressed to him. ``No one at the Commerce Department, including Huang's secretary, knew of this additional office,'' the Cox committee found. They also discovered that Huang met on at least nine occasions with officials at the Chinese Embassy and that six of those meetings were at the embassy. The under secretary for trade administration was `` `taken aback' to learn that Huang ever dealt with anyone at the PRC Embassy. The purpose of the contacts is unknown.'' But Janet Reno's Justice Department didn't find anything amiss here, and John Huang will do community service on some minor campaign violation...."

WorldNetDaily 5/27/99 Stephan Archer "...Although Huang will be pleading guilty to a one-count criminal charge, which accuses him of violating campaign finance laws between 1992-1994, Larry Klayman, chairman and general counsel at Judicial Watch, believes the whole deal between Huang and the Justice Department is a "miscarriage of justice"...."Huang deserves more than a slap of the wrist," insisted Klayman. "Reno, through this sweetheart deal with Huang is protecting her patron Clinton. It is outrageous." Judicial Watch believes it is all too coincidental that on the same day the Cox Report was released, the Justice Department announced its plea agreement with Huang. "It is clear that the Reno Justice Department leaked news of Huang's plea bargain to try to create the appearance of doing something," Klayman said....Regarding Judicial Watch's intentions to haul Huang back in court, Klayman said, "We expect that the Reno/Clinton Justice Department will again oppose this, as it is deathly afraid of anyone, except itself, investigating the biggest and most damaging scandal in American history, one that will eventually bring the Clinton-Gore administration down, including its Justice Department."...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 5/28/99 Jerry Seper "...Attorney General Janet Reno, sharply criticized in Congress for declining to aggressively investigate suspected Chinese espionage, said Thursday the FBI should have come to her two years ago if it had concerns about a Justice Department refusal to seek a wiretap in the spy probe..... "I assumed that since I did not hear from the FBI, that the matter had been resolved to their satisfaction," she said. The attorney general's remarks marked the latest public disagreement among Miss Reno, the FBI and a Justice Department task force investigating campaign finance abuses during the 1996 presidential election, including accusations that China sought to influence U.S. policy with illegal campaign donations..... Last July, Charles G. LaBella, the federal prosecutor she picked to head the task force probe, told Miss Reno that she was required under the Independent Counsel Statute to seek the appointment of an outside prosecutor in the case. He eventually lost his job after his recommendation became public. Mr. LaBella's recommendation coincided with an earlier memo from Mr. Freeh, who also recommended that Miss Reno seek the appointment of an independent counsel to take over the department's campaign finance investigation. Mr. Freeh said in the November 1997 memo that the attorney general had a conflict of interest involving an investigation of the fund-raising activities of Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Miss Reno rejected the recommendations, to the dismay of Republicans in Congress. .... "

Washington Times 5/28/99 Greg Pierce "...David Schippers, who served as the House Judiciary investigative counsel in the impeachment of President Clinton, says if Republicans had gained House and Senate seats in the last election, "history would have been totally different." "If, as anticipated, they had picked up four or five seats in the Senate and 20 seats in the House, we would probably be just reaching a stage now where we'd be ready to impeach. And you would have anticipated that that process which would have gone on in the House Judiciary would have involved Chinagate leads -- I mean if you're gonna have an impeachment inquiry, you inquire," Mr. Schippers said in a long and sometimes explosive interview published in the May 28 issue of Human Events. Mr. Schippers, in response to a question by Human Events editor Terence P. Jeffrey, said he would have investigated Attorney General Janet Reno and the Justice Department. "I feel they were covering up for the president," Mr. Schippers said. The Chicago lawyer said evidence of more incidents of Clinton administration obstructions of justice, witness tampering, perjury and abuse of power "is now on its way to the National Archives." "I tell people, hold your breath, come 2008, you're going to find out a lot of stuff."...."

Washington Times 5/28/99 Wesley Pruden "...Pity the Democrats. They're running short of scapegoats. They don't want to blame the man who stepped aside to enable the Chinese to steal our nuclear secrets. Besides, he only did it to pay off a campaign contributor. Don't all the pols do that? So the president's defenders are looking for someone smaller (if not shorter), weaker, less intimidating. Someone who can't hit back. This makes Janet Reno, a spinster with Parkinson's disease, a perfect candidate to take the fall. They understand that Bill Clinton has no particular love for her, he having had to take her in the first place because Hillary thought she would make a neat (and harmless) attorney general.....We've seen the writing on the wall for Miss Reno for weeks. Al Franken, the comic whose stale material cracks 'em up at the White House and who (he says) works out of there when he's in town, retailed a howler at Miss Reno's expense at the recent dinner of the White House Press Photographers Association. "The Democratic National Committee is coming up with a novel way to raise money," he said. "For $50,000 you can get a waltz with the first lady. For $25,000, you can dance a tango with Tipper. And for $25, the attorney general will come to your table and do a lap dance." He seemed surprised when the photographers greeted this bon mot with groans, hisses and boos. It's too bad there isn't a Mr. Reno, or at least a big brother. That kind of vulgar behavior at a lady's expense ought to be paid for with a good country lickin' (and if he were an authentic Arkansas man the president would administer it himself) Miss Reno, looking for a scapegoat of her own, yesterday fingered the top G-man. She blames FBI Director Louis Freeh for not telling her two years ago about an internal Justice Department disagreement over whether to put a tap on the telephone of the nuclear weapons scientist suspected of spying for China...."

 

Wash. Post 5/30/99 Roberto Suro "...The recent plea bargains in the Justice Department's investigation of fund-raising by the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection effort do not portend a new wave of indictments. Instead, the probe seems likely to end without producing charges against any officials at the White House, the Democratic National Committee or the Clinton-Gore campaign. The clearest indication that the probe has peaked came last week, when the Justice Department announced that it had reached a deal with John Huang, a former official at the Commerce Department and the DNC who once loomed as a mysterious figure at the center of the campaign finance scandal.

Huang helped generate about $2 million in 1996 campaign contributions that the DNC ultimately returned because they came from illegal or suspect sources. He had long been considered the witness who could potentially connect illegal fund-raising to Washington policymakers and perhaps even to President Clinton. However, Huang's plea agreement involves only an admission of guilt regarding two small contributions to Democratic campaigns in California in 1993 and 1994. According to Justice Department officials, the plea agreement, which is expected to be made public later this month, not only does not involve any admission of wrongdoing for any fund-raising during the 1996 campaign, it includes a statement from the department that no further charges will be brought against Huang....."You can ask whether the investigation was mishandled and failed to find whatever was there, but you also have to ask whether there ever really was anything there, whether any serious crimes were ever really committed," said an attorney representing a major figure in the case. That query may never get an official answer because the Justice Department does not ordinarily offer explanations when it declines to bring charges...."

 

JimRob Received via email 5/31/99 Garland "...Those familiar with the Burton and Thompson Committee evidence, know that the Cox Committee basically confirmed in more detail what was already known from their investigations. This evidence was also defined by the Senate investigators in a book entitled Year of the Rat. The real question that now begs to be answered is "How complicit were organizations and individuals within our government in giving them the information?". About 100 pages that answer this question in the classified Cox report were left out of the declassified version for reasons of 'national security'. A disturbing, but good start at answering this question can be found in the declassified report appendices, which may be the most intriguing chapter in the entire report. Here, the report mentions how Loral employees were instructed by their lawyers not to answer questions and how three Loral lawyers claimed attorney certain client privileges, after Loral waived the privileges for voluntary disclosure. The report then goes on to describe three top government agencies that similarly hampered the investigation. First, the CIA impeded the investigation by tipping off Hughes with a 'courtesy' notice that the Cox Committee might interview Hughes employees. The CIA even detailed to Hughes the potential lines of questioning. The Cox Committee did not agree to the 'courtesy' notification and was concerned that the CIA had given Hughes the opportunity to destroy evidence and pressure employees to be less candid. Second, Chairman Cox testified that the Justice Department attempted to insert itself as an intermediary for information requests between the committee and all government agencies because an investigation was in progress. However, Justice did not provide other agencies with necessary progress information about their investigation. The Cox Committee spent a major part of their resources retracing Justice Department steps despite protests of harm to their investigation. The sincerity of their investigation was demonstrated one day after the Cox report was released, when Justice gave John Huang immunity for the entire campaign finance scandal in a plea bargain on an unrelated 1992 charge. Previous evidence indicated that Huang arranged most of the 7 sources of revenue traceable through 11 streams from Clinton / Gore campaigns and the DNC to individuals and organizations directly connected to the Communist Chinese military. Even more disturbing was the lack of cooperation from the Department of Defense (DOD). Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) employees testified that senior managers frequently overruled valid national security concerns regarding DOD positions on dual-use license applications. But the DOD refused to allow the Cox Committee to interview the six most senior DTSA managers, refused to let them interview DTSA employees unless a DOD observer was present and refused to allow DTSA employees to answer a survey by mail. The problems illustrate how key Executive Branch agencies can easily form a tyrannical dictatorship that is not accountable to the American people or even the Congress of the United States. They also show a strong anti-American pro-Communist mentality in individuals at the very top of the CIA, DOD and Justice Departments, which are agencies that we rely on to protect our freedom. As Americans, we are falsely fooled into believing that elected and appointed officials represent our interests...."

New York Times 6/4/99 Jeff Gerth "...In a diplomatically sensitive case, the Justice Department is nearing a decision on whether to indict one of China's most powerful state-owned corporations, law-enforcement officials and lawyers say. Some career prosecutors in the department have recommended the indictment of the corporation, Catic, an aerospace giant, on charges of buying American machining equipment for civilian use in 1994 and diverting some of it to a military plant, the officials and lawyers said. The equipment was sold to the Chinese by McDonnell Douglas, now part of The Boeing Company, which has also been under criminal investigation for possible violations of American export laws..... Catic agreed with the Justice Department last month to extend the deadline for filing charges, the officials and lawyers said. It was five years ago that McDonnell Douglas applied for a Commerce Department license to sell the machining equipment to Catic, which buys and sells civilian aerospace technology. Since the extension, the parties have been in a "continuing dialogue," and Catic has discussed the possibility of paying a civil penalty to resolve the case, one lawyer said. ....The sale of machining equipment was part of a billion-dollar jetliner deal in 1994 in which McDonnell Douglas was to build aircraft in China. At the time, the aircraft deal was promoted by President Clinton and Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown as a centerpiece of the Administration's commercial diplomacy, the policy of using economic engagement to broaden ties with Beijing and promote exports. But within a few months of the announcement of the deal, McDonnell Douglas discovered that some of the equipment it sold to China had been sent 800 miles from Beijing to a military facility in Nanchang that makes missiles and fighter aircraft. And though the 1994 deal announced by President Clinton called for the building of 20 planes, a Boeing spokesman said today that China would build only 1 or 2 planes with the company..... The committee's unanimous report also found that Catic had played a central role in China's drive to acquire technology with civilian and military uses and that on several occasions Catic had "misrepresented the proposed uses of military useful U.S. technology." The Clinton Administration prevented the committee from disclosing further details. In addition, Justice Department officials blocked the committee from disclosing 1994 cables that showed how Administration officials delayed seeking timely assurances from Catic on how it planned to use the machining equipment so as not to disrupt Brown's announcement in China of the McDonnell Douglas aircraft deal, officials familiar with the report said. The Commerce Department received an assurance from Catic after Brown left China but it left unanswered the question of exactly where the machining equipment would be located, according to excerpts from a Sept. 13, 1994, cable included in the Cox committee report. On Sept. 14 the department approved the export of the machining equipment -- some of it more than a decade old, including machine tools to shape and bend large aircraft parts -- for use in Beijing as part of the McDonnell Douglas project to build aircraft in China. The license included some last-minute additions to allay concerns raised by the Pentagon. In August, the Defense Intelligence Agency warned that the Chinese did not really need the equipment for the civilian aircraft deal but that "an advanced machine tool facility presents a unique opportunity for Chinese military aerospace facilities to access advanced equipment which otherwise might be denied," the Cox report said...."

Washington Post 6/6/99 AP "....The Justice Department has put its misconduct investigation of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr on hold while waiting to see whether Starr resigns or significantly curtails his activities after the independent counsel law expires on June 30, according to sources familiar with the deliberations. If Starr were no longer serving as an active prosecutor, the Justice Department could simply forgo the inquiry into Starr's handling of the Monica S. Lewinsky matter. Some senior department officials would welcome that outcome as a chance to avoid a potentially contentious and politicized proceeding, the sources said...... Reno has defended her authority to handle a disciplinary proceeding against independent counsels who are technically appendages of the Justice Department, are subject to department rules and can be dismissed by an attorney general for misconduct. However, top department officials are deeply divided over whether there is a potential case against Starr that merits a full-scale investigation, with some arguing that the allegations are stale, minor or irrelevant and others insisting that as a matter of principle the department must determine whether the guidelines governing federal prosecutors have been violated, sources said...... "

Freeper harpu 6/7/99 Cspan reporting "...Weldon just gave Carl Cameron the credit for getting him copies of the FBI Wiretap transcripts of Chung & Lu. Weldon is asking for House printing costs (to put transcripts in the House Record) before getting them put into House records....."

Scripps-Howard News Service 6/7/99 Dan K. Thomasson "...It is almost inconceivable that Janet Reno continues to hold the office of attorney general of the United States. Beginning with her horrible miscalculation in the handling of the Waco tragedy at the very beginning of her tenure, to her failure to take a key step in the investigation of Chinese espionage, the former prosecutor quite simply has been an embarrassment.....The only plausible explanation for Reno remaining on the job would appear to be her tightness with the first lady, whose demands that the job go to a woman won Reno the appointment, and the fact that Reno has been an absolute pushover for her boss...Reno may have saved his presidency by protecting him and his cronies, from an independent investigation into the horrendous campaign-funding scandal, which turns out has direct links to the Chinese affair. The recently released Cox report on Chinese espionage ties Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung directly to Chinese intelligence operatives who were trying to steal U.S. nuclear technology. The Chinese funneled campaign donations to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign through Chung and Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang. Had Reno acted to name an independent counsel in this matter two years ago, chances are excellent that it would have turned up evidence in the espionage case as well, experts believe. The department's current belated efforts in the campaign cases, with Chung and Huang receiving wrist slaps in exchange for "cooperation," clearly are too late to much impact. It was also two years ago that Reno refused to authorize a wiretap of a suspect in the theft of secrets from Los Alamos labs....While some of the Chinese spying took place as far back as the Carter administration, the Cox report reveals that quite a lot of it occurred during the current presidency. Of the 10 instances of serious security breaches cited in the report, seven of them took place from 1992 to 1997...."

AP 6/8/99 Jim Abrams "...National Security Council spokesman David Leavy said Berger had consulted closely with the Intelligence Committee on the issue and would continue to do so. But he added that it was a "longstanding constitutional practice followed by this administration and previous administrations that the president's national security adviser doesn't testify before congressional committees.''..."

AP 6/8/99 Jim Abrams "...House and Senate lawmakers also held closed-door meetings Tuesday with Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh on such issues as the Justice Department's refusal to allow a wiretap on Wen Ho Lee, the Los Alamos scientist who is suspected of leaking secrets to the Chinese. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said there was some "bipartisan skepticism'' over Justice's argument that it lacked probable cause to allow the wiretap. "Many of us are dubious about the attorney general's assurances that this will not be repeated in the future,'' Hatch said...."

CBN News 6/7/99 Melissa Charbonneau "...The nation's attorney general is being blamed for bungling the Chinese Espionage investigation by Republicans and Democrats alike. Her chief accuser is the Republican Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Shelby said he believes the attorney general "ought to resign and she ought to take her top lieutenants with her. And, she ought to do it now for the sake of the country." ....Some lawmakers are reportedly appalled at Reno's failure to act aggressively when national security was so clearly at risk. At a May hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Orrin Hatch reviewed a string of suspicious events he says were known at the time of wiretap request: -Lee had telephoned Taiwanese-born scientist Peter Lee, a suspect in the theft of neutron bomb technology; -Lee had been observed being hugged by a visiting Chinese scientist; -Lee had travelled and lectured in China in 1988; -And, Lee had had access to classified documents detailing secrets on W-88 nuclear warhead designs.... "From the outside," Woolsey says, "it doesn't look like Justice jumped on the case with all fours, as it did with the Ames case. I don't know why." Ames also notes that without access to classified information it's hard to tell whether Justice was justified in its decision, and he expects Congress will be asking officials some tough questions. "If they didn't press on everything promptly because of the importance of it in 1995 and at least in 1996, why not?" says Woolsey. "Who made the decision?" Other questions linger over the search of Wen Ho Lee's office computer. A search just this year revealed that Lee had downloaded millions of lines of secret computer codes used to design nuclear weapons to an unsecured computer..... "

Curt Weldon Website 6/8/99 "...If this administration has nothing to hide, they can do one very simple thing: release the entire text of the memos sent by Louis Freeh and his subordinate investigator to Janet Reno requesting that a special prosecutor be named to handle this whole situation. If there is no other question we need to ask as Americans, for the next year and a half it is this one question because Louis Freeh, the head of the

FBI, and his top investigator recommended Janet Reno, but because of all this data, and they have a lot more than I have shown my colleagues; in fact, I have seen a lot more as a member of the Cox Committee that I cannot put on here because it is classified. But they seen all of this data, the other 99 percent we cannot show, and they made their recommendations, and Janet Reno choose not to follow their recommendations. The American people are owed, owed an explanation as to why Janet Reno choose not to follow the advice of her chief law enforcement agent for this country. Every person in this country needs to send a card to the White House, every Member of Congress needs to ask the question why the White House will not release the FBI internal memos that Louie Freeh and his assistant sent to ask for a fully completed investigation of this network, of this operation, because that will tell us, Mr. Speaker, whether or not there were motives behind the transfer of technology that caused America's security harm, and that question needs to be asked by everyone in this country....."

Chicago Sun Times 6/10/99 Robert Novak "...In the first week of July 1997, the Justice Department dispatched a lawyer from its campaign-finance task force and an FBI agent to Little Rock, Ark., in quest of a warrant to search the home and offices of restaurateur and Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie. But they were called back to Washington before any warrant could be issued. Not until 3 1/2 months later was the search made. By that time, as court testimony has shown, material subpoenaed by Senate investigators was destroyed by Trie's order. After the story of the aborted search warrant was confirmed last week by Justice in briefing the House Government Reform Committee staff, Chairman Dan Burton subpoenaed records of what transpired two years ago. Typically, the department missed the subpoena's due date. Such stonewalling by Attorney General Janet Reno long ago cooled the investigative fervor of the Republican-controlled Congress. But not Burton's. Dogged despite intense abuse, the chairman still targets illegal foreign financing for President Clinton's re-election in 1996. What's more, Burton has cited new evidence in asking Reno to reconsider something she has steadfastly refused: naming an independent counsel. This effort to breathe life into Burton's inquiry comes as Reno's lieutenants are putting a lid on the scandal that once threatened the Clinton presidency. Trie and fund-raiser John Huang both have entered guilty pleas for lenient sentences, with the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee off the hook. The Justice Department's deadly delay in executing the Trie search warrant bears an eerie resemblance to its refusal to wiretap a scientist suspected of giving nuclear weapons secrets to China. In Trie's Little Rock trial last month, his office manager, Maria Mapli, testified under a grant of immunity that she followed Trie's orders to destroy information sought by Sen. Fred Thompson's investigation beginning in mid-1997. According to committee sources, the FBI pressed for the search warrant, only to be forestalled by Justice Department orders from Washington. "It is troubling to wonder what additional records that we will never know about may have been destroyed in this time frame," Burton said in a June 4 letter to Reno accompanying the subpoena...."

Chicago Sun Times 6/10/99 Robert Novak "...The Burton committee's open-ended investigation still is seeking testimony from Trie and Huang. But, as usual, the Justice Department is insisting on delays..... In again calling for an independent counsel, Burton in a May 26 letter to Reno cited two pieces of evidence that "coffees" at the White House were, in fact, fund-raisers. The first was the assertion in former White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis' new book that the "coffees were held to raise money during a political campaign. That's a fact." The second, retrieved from the computer of March Fong Eu, former U.S. ambassador to Micronesia, describes the coffees as fund-raisers presided over by the "man"--presumably Bill Clinton. Reno, guided by her highly political aides, has been impervious to new evidence when she has refused to invoke the independent-counsel statute. That was made clear in a chilling interview on ABC's "Nightline" May 26 with former Justice Department campaign-finance task-force chief Charles LaBella. His 94-page memo recommending an independent counsel, he indicated, was ignored last year because Reno already had made up her mind. "Nobody talked to me about that [report]," LaBella said. "Nobody ever debriefed me on my report." He was soon shuffled out of government service. LaBella also revealed that he had been ordered by the deputy attorney general's office: "Don't talk to Congressman Burton." Complaining to me that "we have been blocked by the Justice Department," at every turn, Burton is one member of Congress who argues that an independent counsel mechanism is essential...."

Jerusalem Post 6/10/99 Margot Dudkevitch "....A government official and a mother whose son was killed in a terror attack have accused the US of footdragging in its investigations of terror attacks in which American citizens were among the victims. The investigations seek to determine the whereabouts of terrorists who murdered US citizens and examine the possibilities of extraditing them to the US to stand trial. Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department concluded a third visit in the region in April. They met with Palestinian Authority officials and spoke with eyewitnesses to the murder of David Boim, near Beit El, on May 13, 1996. According to excerpts of documents summing up their visit given to The Jerusalem Post, the FBI team asserted that certain difficulties arose in the Boim case and suggested that the confession of the terrorist Amjad Hinawi, who was sentenced to 10 years by a Palestinian court for his involvement in the murder, was insufficient and that more objective evidence linking him to Boim's murder is required....."

Boston Globe 6/12/99 Louise D. Palmer "....While the NRA did not get exactly what it wanted, the lobby's influence during the early stages of House discussions on gun control has reversed the prevailing opinion that pronounced the gun lobby weakened after last month's defeats in the Senate. ''Our epitaph has been written many times,'' said Jim Manown, an NRA spokesman, laughing...... The NRA's two-pronged lobbying strategy, which was advertised on the Internet, in mainstream newspapers, and all over Capitol Hill, began two months ago with a campaign that questioned the wisdom of passing new gun-control laws when the Clinton administration is not enforcing existing ones. In one advertisement in The Wall Street Journal, the NRA wrote that the government prosecuted only 37 cases where felons bought firearms through straw purchases, 11 cases where individuals provided guns to juveniles, and 11 cases of juveniles caught with guns. ''More firearms legislation, like previous legislation, that is passed with no intention of enforcement is a dangerous fraud,'' the ad said. The Justice Department said it could not comment on particular prosecutions but defended its record, pointing out that combined state-federal prosecutions of gun crimes were up 22 percent since 1992. The number of federal cases in which an offender is sentenced to more than five years also rose 22 percent....."

NewsMax.com 6/11/99 Carl from Oyster Bay "...Could it be that the spirit of the late Vince Foster now haunts the Chinagate probe? On Thursday nationally syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported that a 1997 attempt to search Chinagate figure Charlie Trie's Little Rock office was thwarted when, inexplicably, the Clinton Justice Department ordered its investigators to return to Washington, D.C. More than three months later, Justice probers got the green light and a warrant was obtained. But by that time Trie had his office manager destroy key documents Last week, according to Novak, Clinton Justice confirmed this sequence of events for Rep. Dan Burton (R-In), who chairs the House committee which continues to probe the Chinese campaign cash connection.....Four years later, Charlie Trie was tracked down by ABC News in China, just weeks after the search of his own office had been mysteriously aborted by Washington. He had fled overseas, ostensibly, to avoid congressional subpoenas. But that's not how Trie explained it to ABC. Instead, the bigtime Clinton donor peered into the TV camera and revealed, "I'm not hiding. I want to stay alive." Evidently, by seeing that important evidence was shredded and by making himself unavailable for testimony, Trie succeeded where Foster had not. He did manage to "stay alive". ..."

NewsMax.com 6/11/99 Carl from Oyster Bay "...Five years ago [Sen Kit] Bond sat on the then-Democrat controlled Senate Banking Committee, which was investigating Whitewater at the time. The committee scheduled a single day of hearings into the death of Vince Foster, who doubled as both the Clintons' Deputy White House Counsel and their Whitewater lawyer. Before the July 29, 1994 hearing, Bond got permission from then-chairman Sen. Don Reigle to dispatch his own investigators down to Little Rock. Why? To see if Foster was tipped off when the Little Rock U.S. Attorney issued a search warrant for the office of key Whitewater witness David Hale....Three days before the Foster hearing, Bond's team was in the Little Rock ready to interrogate the U.S. Attorney's staff about whether anyone had called Foster with a heads-up on the search warrant. But an hour before the scheduled 9:30AM grilling, word came down from the Banking Committee that permission to do the interviews was withdrawn. Bond's team packed their bags and flew back to Washington in disgust Thus, one of the great mysteries of Whitewater slipped between the cracks: Did Foster know about the Hale office search? If the answer is yes, then he knew that Whitewater was about to explode, which no doubt caused him great distress. Just hours after the Hale office search warrant was issued, Foster's body was found in a remote Virginia Park; his gunshot death ruled a suicide...."

Baltimore Sun 6/11/99 David K. Martin "...WASHINGTON -- Critics of U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno have attacked her for either ignoring or whitewashing one Clinton administration scandal after another. Whether you agree with them or not, you have to wonder about the core competence of Ms. Reno's Justice Department when it asks Congress to provide $20 million to hire more lawyers and so-called "expert witnesses" to sue the U.S. tobacco industry. The Justice Department wants to spend $15 million to hire 40 new lawyers to make a federal case against the tobacco industry and throw in an additional $5 million to pay for "expert witnesses" in the trial. The department already has hired Minneapolis trial lawyer Michael Ciresi to give its new tobacco hires a primer on how to sue the nation's cigarette makers...."

Conservative News Service 6/3/99 Ben Anderson "...Justice Department lawyers on Thursday pleaded before a US District Court judge in Washington to toss out a lawsuit filed by 31 members of Congress against President Bill Clinton seeking to enforce the War Powers Act. The judge is set to issue his decision either Monday or Tuesday of next week. Any U.S. military involvement in attacks on Yugoslavia past midnight on Wednesday May 26, is a "clear violation" of the War Powers Resolution according to Members suing Clinton in Federal Court. The War Powers Act was passed in 1973 and allows for American troops to be placed in harms way only 60 days without Congressional approval. "As of 12:00 am, William Jefferson Clinton will become an unindicted felon for his disregard of the War Powers Act," Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) said Wednesday of last week, noting that the 60-day waiting period would expire that evening. Bartlett is one of 31 Republicans and Democrats suing the President in an effort to force his compliance with the law...."

 

Newsmax 6/14/99 Christopher Ruddy "...Reno's efforts to cover-up for Chinagate, the Clinton's scandal du jour, are legion. But one fact stands out above all others: Reno refused to authorize a wiretap request in 1997, when the FBI wanted to monitor Los Alamos espionage suspect Wen Ho Lee. According to Investor's Business Daily, this was the only wiretap request she denied out of almost 2,700. Even before the Chinese nuclear espionage allegations shook the political landscape, Reno had been covering for the Clintons' special dealings with China. Despite the FBI director's recommendation and the request of a Justice Department official she appointed, Reno has steadfastly refused to appoint an independent counsel to investigate whether Clinton sold America's most sensitive nuclear and military secrets for campaign cash. Actually, Janet Reno has been in the middle of every maelstrom involving the Clintons since her appointment as Attorney General. From Waco to Travelgate to Vince Foster's death to Whitewater obstruction to China-Lippogate, Reno has done exactly what she was appointed to do. She has held the floodwaters of justice from ever reaching the Clinton White House. The truth is that Janet Reno was the most important appointment made to the Clinton cabinet ..... "

Newsmax 6/14/99 Christopher Ruddy "...The real details about Reno's ascendancy were sketched out to me one afternoon by a friend and one-time associate of Janet Reno. We met at a restaurant in the bohemian enclave of Cocoanut Grove here in Miami -- once a stomping ground for Reno...... Investigative reporters James Collier and Ken Collier detailed in the 1992 book Votescam how they uncovered pre-printed voter ballots in a warehouse rented by a Miami political candidate. Following the advice of their editor, they seized the evidence and took the illegal ballots to the State's Attorney, Janet Reno. Incredibly, Reno had the journalists arrested, rather than investigate how a candidate had pre-printed ballots in his possession. As Reno's former associate noted, she was a perfect match for the Clintons because she had a near-perfect record of not prosecuting white-collar criminals or politicians. No one ever accused her of taking bribes or conspiring with criminals, but she was frequently criticized by her political opponents for her naiveté. It was alleged, too, that she was susceptible to blackmail for personal indiscretions. It was clear from Reno's tenure as Miami's figurative top cop that she liked holding public office. She focused on safe issues that she cared about, such as preventing child abuse, while drug dealing, money laundering, and political corruption were rampant.... "

Newsmax 6/14/99 Christopher Ruddy "...The Dade County state attorney shaped up as the ideal Clintonian candidate for the post. She was a woman. She was ineffectual in dealing with organized crime and white-collar criminals. She was a yes woman who would not expose political corruption. She did not have the credentials associated with the post of Attorney General and would owe the Clintons for the appointment...... Their control of Justice became complete when Web Hubbell, described as the president's best friend and an intimate of Hillary's from the Rose Law Firm, was named as Associate Attorney General. As such, Hubbell became the Clintons' point man and safety check at the Justice Department. Hubbell, a white-collar criminal in the same mold as the Clintons, would later plead guilty to tax and mail fraud charges. Any pretense of an independent Justice Department disappeared when Reno's top deputy, Philip Heymann resigned in 1994. He described her performance as Attorney General as "amateur hour." ...."

Newsmax 6/14/99 Christopher Ruddy "... As they were with the Clintons, the press was too willing to overlook horrendous mistakes, such as her decision to have the FBI storm the Koresh compound in Waco, resulting in the deaths of everyone inside, including children. Reno claimed she took the action because of solid evidence that Koresh was abusing children. But, in fact, no written report provided to her during the crisis indicated any children were being abused...... "

Newsmax 6/14/99 Christopher Ruddy "...Perhaps most telling was the experience of Independent Counsel Donald Schmalz. He was appointed to investigate charges that Clinton-backer Don Tyson had made illegal gifts to Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. In the course of his investigation, Schmalz uncovered evidence Bill Clinton, when governor of Arkansas had received cash bribes from Tyson. One of Tyson's airline pilots testified under oath that he had ferried bundles of cash for Governor Clinton to Little Rock Airport, where Clinton's state trooper bodyguards made the pickup. Schmalz's evidence was strong and included testimony from one or more troopers supporting the pilot's allegations. But Reno opposed his every move to expand his jurisdiction. In 1997, Schmalz described to Peter Boyer of PBS a remarkable showdown he had with Reno and six Justice officials over the Tyson allegations. Schmalz told Boyer that until that point he had dismissed his wife's fears his life was in jeopardy while investigating the Clintons. But when he saw the control Clinton had over the Justice Department of the United States he said he was truly shaken. His greatest fears, he said, were for the country....."

Washington Times 6/15/99 "...Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, grew angry with Attorney General Janet Reno in a closed Senate hearing last week, Roll Call reports. Mr. Torricelli was upset over Miss Reno's handling of suspected espionage at a U.S. nuclear weapons lab -- and the answers to his questions...... "In a 10-minute exchange with Reno, Torricelli laid out at least five reasons why she should have supported the FBI's warrant request, according to a committee source present during the questioning. "Reno gave 'vague and misleading answers,' said the source, and did not seem 'well-versed' in the Foreign Intelligence Service Act, the statute that covers federal counterintelligence probes. "Torricelli was infuriated at Reno's answers, particularly after she indirectly criticized him for being late for the hearing, said one senator present." ....."

Providence Journal 6/15/99 "...And the stunning fact is that nothing was done by the Clinton administration until nearly two years after evidence of espionage was revealed. National Security Adviser Samuel Berger was fully aware of the information contained in the Cox Report for months before he bothered to inform President Clinton, or Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, whose department manages the nuclear laboratories where the spying took place, about what he knew. And Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, similarly informed, refused to take appropriate measures (urged on her by the FBI) to get the facts about Chinese espionage, or gather evidence about suspected spies. Even Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., a reliable Clinton point man in Congress, finds the conduct of Berger and Reno "inexplicable." "Inexplicable" is scarcely the word; "outrageous" might be better suited to the circumstances. Not only did Mr. Berger withhold important information from the President -- who has pursued a policy of "strategic engagement" with Beijing -- but Miss Reno deliberately made it more difficult for federal law enforcement agencies to take action against people who stole American nuclear secrets for the Chinese. It is impossible to explain why Mr. Berger and Miss Reno might have acted to jeopardize national security, but the Cox Report reveals the grave consequences of their action. Mr. Berger, a trade lawyer who succeeded his patron, Anthony Lake, at the National Security Council, is visibly out of his depth. And Janet Reno's tenure at the Justice Department has been marked by weak enforcement of the law, an excessive sense of public relations, and a solid determination to provide political cover for the Clinton White House. In this episode, however, it is not Bill Clinton's political viability that has been damaged, but the national security. Integrity is not a word always associated with the Clinton administration, but if Janet Reno and Samuel Berger understood its meaning, they would resign...."

Judicial Watch 6/14/99 "...Last week, Roberto Suro, Attorney General Janet Reno's and the Clinton Justice Department's favorite reporter at The Washington Post -- and the person who routinely discloses tactically-timed Justice Department leaks -- published an article on Sunday, June 6, 1999, entitled "Justice Department Puts Starr Investigation on Hold, Sources Say," which suggested that Reno would not proceed with an investigation into alleged ethics violations by Judge Starr's Office of Independent Counsel ("OIC"), if the OIC would drop any on-going investigations of the Clintons. With yesterday's article in The New York Times that indeed Starr is ending his investigations, and will issue a final report recommending against indictments of Bill and Hillary Clinton, it would appear that Reno's "message" may have been favorably received by the independent counsel. In Judicial Watch's cases, it has learned that Judge Starr and his team have not completed their investigations, and that key witnesses have never been approached or put under oath on important issues. "If the reports are true that Judge Starr is about to 'throw in the towel,' we therefore hope that Judge Starr -- whose criminal mandate provides him with important powers -- will reconsider," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman and President Tom Fitton...."

Fox News 6/16/99 Carl Cameron "…Senior sources in the Justice Department's Campaign Finance Task Force tell Fox News they plan to turn down a chance to retry Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia on Federal tax fraud charges. A mistrial was declared last week in Los Angeles when the jury deadlocked. The Judge gave prosecutors until Thursday to decide what to do. Hsia faces four counts of income tax evasion. Hsia faces a later trial in Washington, D.C. on charges of funneling illegal foreign contributions to the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through monks and nuns at a Buddhist Temple in California. ..."

Washington Times 6/18/99 Jerry Seper "…The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has challenged a Justice Department ethics investigation of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, questioned Thursday why the department had delayed the probe. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, told Attorney General Janet Reno in a terse letter that a Justice Department decision to defer the inquiry until after June 30 when the Independent Counsel Act expires was inappropriate and that Mr. Starr "should either be exonerated or sanctioned in a timely fashion." "Delaying an inquiry into the alleged misconduct of any prosecutor unfairly prolongs suspicion of that prosecutor and undermines his or her ability to perform his or her duties," Mr. Hatch said. "And where, as here, the matter is of significant public interest and involves charges of impropriety, the delay causes even more egregious harm -- erosion of the public's confidence that the administration of justice remains free of inappropriate influence." Citing published reports, Mr. Hatch questioned why the probe had been put on "hold" to see whether Mr. Starr resigns or curtails his inquiry when the act expires. Mr. Hatch said the independent counsel is required to submit a final report on his investigation, which began in 1994, and that he should be "free to carry out his responsibility expeditiously without the distraction or threat of an 'on hold' department inquiry into his office's conduct." "It is simply inappropriate to withhold the completion of an ethical inquiry, which I might add, is of dubious legal merit. . . . I think all would agree that it would be beneficial to have Judge Starr complete his report sooner rather than later."…."

Washington Weekly 6/20/99 ROBERT STOWE ENGLAND "...All three allegations of violations of export license laws [Hughes and Loral - Cox Report] controlling sensitive technology were referred to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation, the earliest in 1996. The investigation, which a Justice Department source claims got underway in late 1997, has led to no arrests and no charges so far...."

Nation 6/12/99 Christopher Hitchens "....The Clinton Administration, through legal measures such as the Anti-Terrorism and Intelligence Authorization acts, has been treating the Fourth Amendment as an inconvenience since at least 1996. The chief exhibit in this contempt for the Constitution is the "roving wiretap," whereby any phone to which a suspect is "reasonably proximate" can be invigilated by the FBI. Yet when the FBI asked Justice for permission to tap the phone of Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at the Los Alamos labs, Janet Reno's amazing subordinates three times turned down the application. We now know that in 1996 her judicial review panel authorized all 839 wiretap warrants that it received.

AP 6/24/99 "... Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday that the Justice Department will be ready to take on the job of appointing special prosecutors to investigate misconduct by high government officials when the independent counsel law expires next week. Reno said the department is nearly finished crafting new rules it will follow in naming special investigators. ``Our regulations will be ready by July 1,'' she said at her weekly news briefing. Barring any last-minute attempts to keep it alive, the independent counsel law, which spawned Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Clinton and 20 other probes of high-level officials over the past two decades, will expire June 30.... One key Senate Republican has urged Congress to seize some authority over the naming of special prosecutors by making Justice Department rules for their appointment, conduct and removal subject to the approval of Congress and the president....."

The Associated Press 6/26/99 William Kates "...The FBI obtains convictions in just one in four cases, the worst average among major federal law enforcement agencies, according to a new study of Justice Department statistics. From 1993 through 1997, the FBI referred 222,504 cases for prosecution. Only 27 percent resulted in a conviction, said researchers at Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC. In about one-third of cases the FBI referred, federal prosecutors declined to take action because of weak or insufficient evidence, or after deciding there was minimal or no federal interest...... TRAC noted that the FBI's conviction average was significantly more impressive when it was considered in terms of cases that were actually prosecuted - 69 percent ended in convictions. Although complete 1998 figures were not available, TRAC reported that the FBI ended with convictions in 76 percent of its cases that were tried last year...."

Associated Press 6/26/99 "...In the wake of allegations of Chinese espionage, the FBI, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, is planning to create a new division for hunting spies, government officials said Saturday. ...Reno signed off on an FBI plan in recent weeks to split the functions of the national security division into two parts, counterterrorism and spy-hunting. Under the plan, counterespionage would have its own new division, said the officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity..... "

AP 6/27/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday she is preparing regulations to take over the authority to appoint special prosecutors when the independent counsel law expires next week. "The attorney general should have the basic responsibility for determining when a special counsel should be appointed and the scope of the jurisdiction of the special counsel, and should be responsible for removing the special counsel if there is reason to do so." Reno said at a news conference Thursday...... "

Human Events interview of Schippers 5/28/99 Terence Jeffrey "... HE: Did they let you see an unredacted version of the LaBella memo? Did you get to see the whole thing? S: Yes. I'm one of the few people who got to see it. HE: Did you see FBI Director Louis Freeh's memo? S: I saw both of them, every word of them. HE: Can you say that having read those memos you would have still wanted to go on and investigate the China connection as an impeachable offense? S: Oh, absolutely. I mean I wanted to see the memos just to see if there was something in there that I had anticipated and that I had expected all along. HE: Can you say what that is? S: No, I can't. It goes to the China aspect. HE: When Louis Freeh testified August 4, 1998, in the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, he was asked by Chairman Dan Burton [R.-Ind.], in effect, "Are you investigating the President and the Vice President? Freeh leaned back in his chair, leaned forward to the microphone, and said: "Yes." You have no reason to disbelieve that Louis Freeh was investigating the President and Vice President of the United States? S: No. I believe every word Louis Freeh says. Louis Freeh, in my opinion, is one of the honorable people up there. HE: Another thing that Louis Freeh said on August 4 was that he and the attorney general had worked out a procedure by which they reviewed whether national security information developed in the Chinagate task force would be briefed to the National Security Council at the White House -- in other words, to the President. He said that there were some instances in which they decided not to brief the President. You have no reason to disbelieve that? S: I have no reason to disbelieve anything that Louis Freeh says. Let's leave it at that. I'm definitely gagged on anything that I read in that report. HE: I understand. I don't want you to violate any confidence or security agreement. The implication for people who watched closely is that the FBI is investigating the President of the United States for knowingly accepting Chinese money and perhaps there may be a quid pro quo at the bottom of that, and that Janet Reno and some political appointees in the Justice Department are not naming an independent counsel because that would trigger an unfettered investigation. And that they are therefore covering up for the President. Is that a question that you would have pursued in an impeachment inquiry? S: Oh yes. Absolutely. I would have pursued that, I would have pursued the China aspect of it, I would have pursued John Huang and Charlie Trie. I would have gone into Filegate and tried to find out what went on there. HE: You would have investigated whether the attorney general of the United States is actively covering up for the President of the United States in the commission of impeachable offenses? S: Yes. Whether I had read that report or not, we would have investigated that....."

Human Events interview of Schippers 5/28/99 Terence Jeffrey "... S: About anything. We tried to get into the immigration and naturalization problems that we saw and we were told that they weren't going to allow us to see the immigration records. The FBI at every stage of the investigation -- at every stage of oversight, impeachment, or anything else -- gave us nothing but 100% full cooperation from the bureau. The problems always came between the bureau and us because interposed between us was the Justice Department, and they were not about to give up anything that might embarrass the President or the Administration. HE: Your feeling is they were covering up for the President? S: I feel they were covering up for the President. HE: That the FBI, under the directorship of Louis Freeh, and the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Henry Hyde -- in other words, the Congress -- have been cut out of the investigation of what might be the most significant corruption taking place in government today. S: Absolutely. There is not a person in the Congress who has even been able to read Mr. LaBella's report or Mr. Freeh's report. HE: You're the only person? S: No. One of the Democrat staffers was able to read it with me. And, of course, we were totally gagged. I could only report to Mr. Hyde, personally. ..."

Washington Weekly 6/28/99 Marvin Lee "...Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) on Friday filed suit in federal district court in Washington, DC against the Clinton White House for illegally requesting from the FBI and illegally transferring to publisher Larry Flynt, spinmeister James Carville, and reporter Dan Moldea, his FBI file. Flynt, Carville, and Moldea subsequently used information, which Barr contends must have been obtained from his FBI file, in an attempt to discredit him in his capacity as a critic of the White House. Also named in the lawsuit is the Clinton Justice Department for acceding to the illegal White House request for Barr's confidential FBI file. Barr contends that both the White House and the Justice Department violated the Privacy Act and asks for compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney's fees. Barr is represented by Judicial Watch, which is already litigating a "Filegate" lawsuit on behalf of others whose FBI files were misused by the White House....."

Sen. James M. Inhofe Republican from Oklahoma. "...The Cox Report also tells us that the Energy Department and FBI investigations of this matter have focused exclusively on the loss of the W-88, which we know happened around 1988. There have been no investigations undertaken about the loss of the other warheads, the timing of whose loss cannot be as clearly pinned down...."

Sen. James M. Inhofe Republican from Oklahoma. "...What are the motives for all this? Why did the Clinton Administration act the way it did, in almost total disregard for any traditional concern for U.S. national security? The Cox Report did not answer these questions because it was only concerned with the facts of the security breaches themselves, not what was behind it. But FBI Director Louis Freeh did assign one man to look into this. His name was Charles LaBella, who became head of the Justice Department's China Task Force. He and his investigators spent months looking into the connections, trying to connect the dots with campaign contributions, foreign influences, and Administration actions. What he found is laid out in a 100-page memo he prepared for Janet Reno. We know this memo argues in favor of the appointment of an independent counsel to carry on the investigation. But the memo itself has remained secret, even though it has been subpoenaed by Congress. Janet Reno, who rejected its recommendation for an independent counsel, has refused to release the memo to the Congress or to the public. It is time for that memo to be released. FBI Director Freeh has testified that the public knows only about one percent of what the FBI knows about the Chinagate scandal. It is time for the truth to come out. It is time for the public to get some sense of the other 99% which is contained in the LaBella memo...."

Sen. James M. Inhofe Republican from Oklahoma. "...On March 15, I began my speech by asking the American people to listen as I told them "a story of espionage, conspiracy, deception and cover-up-a story with life-and-death implications for millions of Americans-a story about national security and a President and an administration that deliberately chose to put national security at risk, while telling the people everything was fine." In the three months since I made these statements, none of this has been refuted...."

Charleston Post and Courier 7/2/99 "... The New York Times reported last weekend that senior administration officials first learned of possible Chinese spying at the Energy Department's nuclear-weapons labs in Los Alamos, N.M., in July 1995, when then-Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary told then-White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta about it. That's eight months sooner than the White House previously dated the initial briefing. The Times also reported that then-CIA Director John Deutch, after concluding that the Chinese had stolen design information on the W-88 (the most advanced U.S. nuclear warhead), informed then-National Security Adviser Anthony Lake of his conclusions - in November 1995. Samuel Berger, then Mr. Lake's deputy and now national security adviser, repeatedly said he first learned of the "problem" in April 1996. He said he finally told President Clinton in the summer of 1997 - or early in 1998 (he's not sure). .... Why did high-level administration officials wait two years to inform the president of this threat? Particularly, why did Mr. Berger, who sat in on several early 1996 meetings with Asian fund-raisers and knew that Chinese aerospace officials were making large contributions to the Clinton re-election campaign, not tell the president of the Los Alamos "problem"? ...Why did Attorney General Janet Reno reject an FBI request to wiretap a suspected spy at Los Alamos in 1997? Why did administration officials wait until after that suspected spy's name surfaced in news reports to remove him from his position - and from his access to highly classified nuclear data? ...How could White House special counsel Jim Kennedy keep a straight face last weekend while dismissing this latest revelation - the 1995 O'Leary-Panetta meeting - as "simply an informal heads-up to the White House"? Who in the White House kept his or her head up when informed that the Chinese were stealing nuclear-weapons secrets? ...."

ANN COULTER 6/10/99 "...Gun Don't Kill People, The Department of Justice Does In June of 1997, Tony Leong, convicted felon caught with a handgun illegally in his possession was returned to the streets because the Department of Justice refused to enforce the law. Not the law that prohibits convicted felons from owning guns, though that was the incidental effect, since he could not be prosecuted. The law is section 3501 of title 18, enacted two years after the Supreme Court decided Miranda v. Arizona. Though lavishly praised in this space, this provision in the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1968 has attracted little attention. That's too bad....."

Associated Press 7/1/99 Laurie Asseo "...The Justice Department announced new rules today that give Attorney General Janet Reno the authority to appoint special counsels to investigate the president and other top government officials. The rules in effect will replace the independent counsel law that expired Wednesday following years of controversy. Even Kenneth Starr, who has investigated President Clinton's administration for more than four years, has told Congress he favored its abolition. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference the new rules were intended to "strike the proper balance between accountability and independence.'' ....The rules give Reno the sole authority to appoint a special counsel if she determines the Justice Department would have a conflict of interest in investigating allegations of wrongdoing, and if she decides that naming an outside prosecutor would be in the public interest....."

Washington Post 7/1/99 Walter Pincus "...National security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger made an unusual two-hour, closed-door appearance before members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday to answer questions about his handling of allegations of Chinese espionage at the nation's nuclear weapons laboratory. .... Berger told the senators he stands by Richardson's efforts to reach a compromise. Meanwhile, administration and congressional sources said a new FBI investigation was underway into possible economic espionage by a contractor at one of the Energy Department's civilian laboratories. Although the sources would not identify the lab, the report illustrates the need for a department-wide counterintelligence effort rather than one primarily within the nuclear weapons complex, according to Energy officials. The case, initially uncovered by an Energy Department internal audit, stemmed from questionable "irregular" expenditures by a contractor that led to suspicions that proprietary government information was being used for the contractor's private business, according to sources...."

 

7/15/98 The New York Times "Attorney General Janet Reno is going to report to the Senate Judiciary Committee today, but nothing she says is likely to change one big fact or clear up one lasting mystery. The fact is that even with the Independent Counsel Act, if an Attorney General is determined to protect a sitting President from investigation there is little that Congress or Federal law enforcement agencies can do. The mystery is why any Attorney General would want his or her chief legacy to be the preservation of a cover-up.."

 

Washington Post Robert Suro 8/1/98 " Democrats Friday accused Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, of threatening Attorney General Janet Reno with contempt of Congress if she does not seek an independent counsel in the campaign finance investigation. . A Justice Department official depicted it as ``an unprecedented display of political tampering with law enforcement.'' Denying that Burton was threatening the attorney general, Will Dwyer, the committee spokesman, said: ``Congressman Burton is not trying to dictate a decision by the Attorney General. He is just trying to get her to produce subpoenaed documents according to lawful procedures.'' ."

 

8/7/98 AP Michael Sniffen "Critics of the FBI crime lab are disappointed that the Justice Department has proposed ``minimal'' discipline -- censure of just two bureau employees -- despite a scathing inspector general report a year ago. Four lab supervisors also would have been disciplined but they have retired, according to a June 30 Justice memorandum obtained by The Associated Press. .."

 

New York Times 8/27/98 David Johnston "Attorney General Janet Reno advanced a significant step closer on Wednesday toward deciding whether to ask for an independent prosecutor to investigate Vice President Al Gore's role in fund raising for the 1996 campaign, government officials said. Reno ordered a 90-day preliminary inquiry into whether Gore lied to investigators last year when he was initially interviewed about his telephone solicitations to donors from the White House, the officials said. ."

 

AP 9/2/98 Anne Gearan "Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, who summoned Attorney General Janet Reno to a private meeting today, said she had been ``forthcoming'' after more than two hours of discussions in his office. Reno was briefing Republican leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees who are pushing for a broad independent counsel investigation into alleged abuses during the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.. Hatch, R-Utah, called today's meeting with Reno to demand again that she turn over memos from FBI Director Louis Freeh and from the former chief of her campaign finance task force, Charles LaBella. Both recommended she appoint an outside counsel..John Conyers of Michigan, the ranking democrat on the Judiciary Committee, was not at the meeting.

UPI 9/2/98 Jennifer Brooks "After a month-long showdown with the House, Attorney General Janet Reno has turned over edited copies of Justice Department reports about the Clinton administration's fund- raising practices. The memos from top Justice Department aides _ minus 50 pages that were edited out for fear the information would compromise the ongoing department probe _ reportedly urge Reno to appoint an independent counsel to investigate fund-raising practices during the 1996 presidential campaign..Burton also said that the information he saw in the documents today reinforced his belief that ``the attorney general appeared to be trying to protect the president'' from a full investigation. Top Justice Department aides and FBI director Louis Freeh had written Reno, recommending a wider probe into allegations of improper campaign fundraising. ."

AP 9/3/98 Laurie Kellman ".Following a three-hour meeting Wednesday in which Reno produced a cache of staff memos long sought by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Burton raised the possibility of dropping a contempt citation the panel passed last month. ``If the (House) leadership and my members feel like that's sufficient after I've briefed them, then the contempt citation might not go forward,'' Burton, the committee's chairman, told reporters. ``But if we don't have everything that we think is required, then of course, we'll probably move forward with it.'' Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, agreed. ``It appears that the contempt crisis may be averted,'' he said.."

AP 9/8/98 John Solomon "For the third time in a month, Attorney General Janet Reno has launched a 90-day investigation into whether an independent counsel should be named to investigate Democratic fund-raising during the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election campaign, legal sources said Tuesday. This inquiry will focus on whether the White House or Clinton's campaign illegally coordinated Democratic issue ads to assist the president's re-election, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A formal announcement of Reno's decision was expected when the federal court that appoints independent counsels approves its public release, the sources said.."

NY Times David Johnston 9/10/98 "After two years in which Attorney General Janet Reno resisted demands for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate how the Democrats financed President Clinton's re-election campaign, Reno has started three separate inquiries, each of which could lead to an independent counsel. The sudden activity -- opening three cases in less than two weeks -- has significantly shifted the opinions of some prosecutors and investigators who once thought an independent counsel was out of the question. Many now believe such a step is inevitable..In the estimate of the government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Reno is unlikely to seek an independent prosecutor in the case of Gore and is likely to ask for an appointment in the case of Ickes. The case of Clinton and the issue advertisements, they said, is too close to call.."

AP 9/25/98 "The Justice Department agreed to pay $4.1 million to hundreds of immigration workers who claimed they were denied promotions because they are black. Under a proposed settlement, back wages would be paid to about 800 past and current employees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and 26 will be promoted, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday, citing a copy of the pact. Without admitting wrongdoing, the government also agreed to pay $1.5 million in legal fees and to hire an independent consultant for three years to monitor the hiring and promotion of blacks.."

Wall Street Journal 1/11/99 Terry Eastland ".Those who have worked at the Justice Department know that much of what it does is carried out in the same way, regardless of who is president. Yet it is also true that in executing his office every president affects the department and its work..Within Justice the point is well understood that if the same evidence of perjury and obstruction of justice developed in Mr. Clinton's case were brought forward against an attorney general or anyone else in the department, there would be no constitutional bar to prosecution and that these offenses would be grounds for removal. "If any one of us had engaged in this kind of conduct," one prosecutor says, "we would have been smoked by Janet Reno within 13 seconds.".Sometimes the fact that the president has become an embarrassment to law enforcement fairly shouts itself. In November, when the FBI celebrated its 90th anniversary, Director Louis Freeh invited a president to attend. But he was not Mr. Clinton, who appointed Mr. Freeh, but George Bush. In making him an honorary agent, Mr. Freeh said: "He is a leader whose life is a model for the core values we in the FBI hold dear--fidelity, bravery and integrity." There was "an unmistakable subcontext," says one attendee. "The theme," says another, "was 'we need a president we can trust.' "."

 

Washington Post 9/3/98 Roberto Suro "President Clinton is the subject of a new Justice Department probe to determine whether an independent counsel should investigate allegations that he personally violated campaign spending laws during his 1996 reelection effort, according to officials familiar with the inquiry…..On at least three occasions, Attorney General Janet Reno has formally examined allegations related to the DNC ads and the funds used to pay for them. Each time, she has come to the conclusion that there are no grounds for an independent counsel investigation.."

AP 7/15/98 Laurie Kellman "Senate Republicans accused Attorney General Janet Reno of protecting President Clinton from fund-raising and obstruction of justice investigations by having the Justice Department concoct ways to shield the White House. Chief among the phony protections, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch charged Wednesday, is the department's insistence that the law exempts Secret Service agents from having to testify in the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Sen. Arlen Specter, R- Pa., accused Reno of using a double standard in appointing an independent counsel to investigate charges of influence peddling against Labor Secretary Alexis Herman but using similar arguments to reject a special prosecutor for campaign fund raising…. Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson of Tennessee pointed out. `It is difficult to imagine a more compelling situation for appointing an independent counsel,'' Thompson quoted Freeh."

 

Washington Post 7/17/98 Ruth Marcus and Roberto Suro "In the battle over whether Secret Service agents should be forced to testify about their dealings with President Clinton, the Justice Department finds itself in the line of fire.. "The Attorney General is, in effect, acting as the President's counsel under the false guise of representing the United States, contrary to the whole purpose and structure" of the independent counsel law, wrote Judge Laurence H. Silberman. ."

 

Michael Harris 7/19/98 Toronto Sun "The garter-belt is tightening around Slick Willy's presidential neck. But what is less obvious, and far more sinister for the world's greatest democracy, is the rift growing between those who support the rule of law and those who believe in presidential privilege..No one in the U.S. legal system believes in the so-called "protective function privilege" that Clinton's lawyers used to block members of the Secret Service from testifying in front of the Monica Lewinsky Grand Jury.It is one thing for the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch, to accuse the administration of perverting the law for the benefit of Bill Clinton. After all, Hatch is a Republican and a political foe of the Democrats who might be expected to make hay out of the president's difficulties. But when an experienced appeals court judge such as Lawrence Silberman accuses the administration of "declaring war" on Kenneth Starr in order to "protect the president," it's time to start wondering whether Reno has outlived her usefulness as chief law officer of the United States. Despite the ruling of three separate courts and now the opinion of the head of the U.S. Supreme Court, the men who guard the president are treating their pending trip to the Lewinsky grand jury like mobsters who don't want to talk about it.While the Secret Service and the president mouth all the appropriate rhetoric about the rule of law, they are imperilling the judiciary by turning the Lewinsky Affair into a popularity contest between Bill Clinton and U.S. justice.

7/16/98 Rodger Schultz/Transcripts "Yesterday [July 15], Reno once again saw fit to insolently poke her finger in the eye of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Orrin Hatch regarding her failure to appoint an Independent Counsel to probe widespread criminal activity by the White House and DNC during the 1996 Presidential campaign. .I think it fair to say that any honest observer of Reno's recent performances must conclude that she is either naive and grossly incompetent; or has been compromised and is under the complete control of the Clinton White House. . I offer a 1997 transcript of an Ollie North/ Jack Thompson interview .Thompson, a Miami attorney and erstwhile political opponent of Reno, did dozens of interviews in 1997 wherein he made the specific accusation that Reno is being blackmailed by the White House..Jack Thompson, a Florida attorney who ran against Janet Reno for State's Attorney in Dade County was interviewed by Ollie North on April 28, 1997: "Janet Reno's erstwhile opponent in Florida politics has told Ollie North in a radio interview that he gave the FBI adverse information regarding Reno's record of drunk driving and use of call girls. He said that he also passed along this information to President Clinton, through an intermediary named Sam Jones, a senior partner to Bruce Lindsey in a Little Rock law firm. Sam passed the information to Lindsey who conveyed it to Clinton, before he had even nominated Reno to be attorney general. Lanny Davis called Thompson while Reno was being vetted for the job, to get the information again. Thompson concludes from this that Clinton wanted a "dirty cop" on the beat during his tenure as president."

Philadelphia Inquirer 7/21/98 Chris Mondics "Amid growing frustration on Capitol Hill over Attorney General Janet Reno's refusal to appoint a special prosecutor to probe Democratic fund-raising practices in the 1996 election, Sen. Arlen Specter is pressing his Republican colleagues to ask the courts to take the case out of her hands. Specter's lawsuit says there is evidence that the President and his staff violated the law through the improper raising and spending of so-called soft money. The suit also contends that Reno ignored evidence gathered by her own department of an illegal Chinese scheme to influence the 1996 election that allegedly touched on the White House. "I hope to get federal district court to order Reno to appoint independent counsel," Specter said yesterday. "I think the conclusions [ of the lawsuit ] are very, very strong."

When a federal court ruled that the administration's proposed warrantless searches of public housing is unconstitutional, Bill Clinton's response was "I'll consult with Janet Reno to find a way around this." ("this" being the Bill of Rights).

Attorney General Janet Reno's brief to Appeals Court is an attempt to prevent sworn law enforcement officers (Secret Service) from testifying in a criminal investigation.

Washington Weekly Marvin Lee "Over the past several months, Attorney General Janet Reno has repeatedly told Congress that she is following the advice of "my people" in refusing to appoint an independent counsel to probe the Chinese penetration of the White House. Well, leaks from the Justice Department have made clear that this is a lie. "Her people," the two highest authorities on the matter, FBI Director Freeh and outgoing Campaign Task Force head Charles LaBella, have both counseled her in writing to seek the appointment of an independent counsel. The lead FBI agent on the case, James Desarno, is reported to be of the same opinion. So unless Janet Reno means that she is following the advice of the White House and "my people" refers to Bruce Lindsey and Charles Ruff, she could very well be guilty of lying to Congress, which includes not telling the whole truth."

Fox News 8/18/98 "The Justice Department once again is reviewing whether Vice President Al Gore broke federal election laws when he used White House telephones to make fund-raising calls, The Wall Street Journal reported today. The review will help Attorney General Janet Reno decide whether to request an independent counsel to probe the 1996 presidential race. Reno, who last year elected to not have an independent counsel investigate, is under pressure from Republicans to reverse her stance.."

Richmond Times Dispatch 8/25/98 Joseph Duggan "Before Kenneth Starr reports to Congress and issues indictments, he should redouble efforts to probe the many Clinton administration crimes against privacy. As one of 900 former Reagan and Bush White House employees whose lives were disrupted when Clinton operatives ransacked our confidential FBI background files, I believe these offenses must not go unpunished. The scope of the needed investigation is wide, because the crimes against privacy neither began nor ended with the White House "Filegate" affair. *State Department Files: In a nearly forgotten 1993 incident, two Clinton aides in the State Department's White House Liaison Office - the clearinghouse for political patronage jobs - illegally obtained the sensitive background files on almost 200 persons who had worked in the State Department as Bush administration political appointees. They released derogatory information from those files to a Washington Post writer. The State Department Inspector General, having found clear evidence of a crime, urged the Justice Department to prosecute. Republicans, wanting professional prosecutors on the case, called for an independent counsel. Attorney General Janet Reno re- fused to appoint one. For no apparent reason other than to protect political allies, she also refused to prosecute through regular Justice Department channels. Relying on interviews with Clinton White House officials Bruce Lindsey and Bernard Nussbaum, the IG reported he turned up no White House complicity in the crime. Today no one would accept Lindsey and Nussbaum's alibis at face value.."

The Bulletin's Frontrunner 8/24/98 "Insight (9/7, 6, Dettmer) reported Attorney General Janet Reno's "pivotal position in the ongoing Clinton saga has many speculating within the Justice Department whether she's healthy enough to handle the challenges that lay ahead. Several Justice sources for weeks now have confided reluctantly" to Insight that they have "anxieties about the Attorney General's mental and physical condition." Justice Department sources "say that the Parkinson's and the strong medication she's under are taking their toll. One Federal prosecutor...said Reno has physically deteriorated rapidly the last few months. The prosecutor -- who's known Reno for nearly two decades -- saw the Attorney General recently for the first time in several months and was taken aback," calling her deterioration "very noticeable."

AP 8/24/98 "The chairman of a House committee that wants Attorney General Janet Reno cited for contempt for failing to provide a controversial memo on campaign fund raising rejected her offer Monday to have Justice Department officials simply brief congressional aides about the report..``The offer this morning to brief staff on the LaBella memorandum is yet another disingenuous offer to avoid complying with the committee's subpoena and legitimate oversight needs,'' Burton wrote to Reno. ``The committee will continue to insist upon its right to have compliance with our subpoena to you of July 24, 1998.'' ."

New York Times 9/19/98 Editorial "Attorney General Janet Reno's recent decision to review the advertising blitz orchestrated by President Clinton during his re-election campaign marks an important if belated turnaround..Unfortunately, Ms. Reno's change of position has not led to an increase in candor. She attributes her decision to re-examine the Clinton ads to a preliminary finding by a Federal Election Commission auditor that White House control of the commercials rendered them campaign ads. But that finding hardly comes as a surprise. As Trevor Potter, a former F.E.C. chairman, testified a year ago, F.E.C. advisory opinions hold that party commercials coordinated with a candidate's campaign and containing an "electioneering message" depicting an identifiable candidate are campaign ads, whether or not they tell viewers to vote for or against someone. Ms. Reno was finally goaded into action by the memo left by the outgoing chief of her campaign finance task force, Charles La Bella. It said the known evidence required an independent counsel, and advanced a refreshing legal theory that campaign finance laws mean what they say. "

TalkDaily---www.talkers.com---10/14/98 Les Kinsolving WCBM, 680 AM, Baltimore, MD "."On May 2, 1973, Joanne Chesimard, a member of the so-called Black Liberation Army, together with two of her associates, murdered two New Jersey State Police officers. She was tried, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. But six years later, she escaped and fled to Cuba, where she was recently the subject of a TV report, in which she claimed victimhood. That led to widespread and understandable outrage in New Jersey, so that Gov. Christine Todd Whitman contacted Attorney General Janet Reno asking assistance in getting Chesimard extradited from Cuba. On Sept. 14th, Congress passed a resolution asking that Cuba extradite this murderess of Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster. Now, Washington Times columnist John McCaslin reports what should have been page one and prime time nationwide. For California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the racially segregated Congressional Black Caucus, has written a letter to Cuba's communist dictator Fidel Castro. She wrote Castro that she and other members of the Black Caucus had been 'deceived' and had 'mistakenly' voted for the extradition resolution because it 'used the birth name of Joanne Chesimard, when this political activist (sic) is known to most members of the Congressional Black Caucus as Assata Shakur.' Moreover, I support the right of all nations to grant political asylum to individuals fleeing political persecution. (!) ."

AMERICAN SPECTATOR 11/98 Byron York ". As La Bella wrote, the sources say, he regularly discussed the investigation with senior department officials. Some, like Reno and top deputy Eric Holder, did not signal what course they might ultimately take (although Reno had resisted all earlier calls for a counsel). Others, like Public Integrity chief Lee Radek, his assistant Jo Ann Farrington, and Deputy Attorney General Robert Litt, seemed dead set against a campaign finance independent counsel. The differences in opinion led to heated arguments that left the participants' nerves on edge. Prosecutors on La Bella's side believed Radek, Farrington, and Litt were simply set in stone on the issue; arguing with them, the sources say, was like arguing with a brick wall. La Bella even wrote a letter to Reno telling her the issue had become so overheated that rational debate was no longer possible. "It is clear to me that emotions run high whenever we begin a discussion of the Independent Counsel Act," he wrote. "I do not think we are capable of the type of collegial exchange which would be beneficial." By mid-July, La Bella finished his memo and gave it to the attorney general. He made just three copies: one for himself, one for Reno, and one for FBI Director Louis Freeh, who also favored the appointment of a counsel. Sources say La Bella apparently intended to keep the memo a closely held secret--vainly hoping to shield it not only from the press but from the in-house critics. Perhaps Reno would read it on her own a few times before giving it to the people who were going to rip it apart. But that's not what happened. Instead, once the report hit Reno's desk, several copies were made and distributed to the attorney general's circle of advisers. And it wasn't just insiders who got a look; within a few days, the New York Times published a front-page account of La Bella's central conclusion headlined "Reno Aide's Report Urges Counsel on Fund-Raising." Now everyone knew La Bella disagreed with his boss's stance against an independent counsel.."

WorldNetDaily 1/5/99 Charles Smith ".A newly de-classified FBI document confirms that Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Webster Hubbell to a secret computer chip project intended to bug America. The document, a 1993 letter from FBI Director William Sessions to Reno, was obtained from the Department of Justice using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FBI letter to Reno states: "During the June 30, 1993, meeting with the National Security Council staff to discuss the status of the Presidential Decision and Review Directives concerning key-escrow encryption technology and telecommunications trends, which was attended by Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell, the issue of a recommended solution to the law enforcement access problem, or the digital telephony issue, was discussed." The Department of Justice withheld many of the documents seen by Hubbell, including a secret report from the FBI on "Requirements For the Surveillance of Electronic Communications." The June 30, 1993, letter from Sessions to Reno states that the Whitewater figure attended a secret White House briefing on U.S. computer chip policy. In 1993, President Clinton considered mandatory legislation for a special computer chip called "Clipper" to be manufactured into all U.S. computers. According to a secret FBI report from 1992, the Clipper chip contained a "exploitable feature" which allowed the federal government to intercept and decode computer communications...Prime targets for monitoring would be foreign governments, banks, corporations, and individuals opposing the Clinton administration. The keys were to be held by "key recovery agents" licensed by the Commerce Department...As a Commerce official, Huang, a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee and employee of the Lippo Group, was briefed 37 times on encryption communications by the CIA. Immediately after each briefing, Huang would walk across the street to the Lippo/Stephens Group offices and make long distance phone calls and send faxes to points unknown.."

WorldNet Daily 2/23/99 Charles Smith "...The direct link between Beijing espionage, millionaire drug lords and Bill Clinton is Webster Hubbell. In 1993, Webster Hubbell was personally charged by Janet Reno with a top-secret project to tap every phone in America. Hubbell's initial task was to tap every phone in the government, starting with the Drug Enforcement Administration. This month, the Department of Justice was forced by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to release the Hubbell files. According to Justice, many of the Hubbell documents are being withheld for "national security" reasons. In addition, 15 Hubbell documents remain in the hands of the FBI and National Security Agency to be reviewed prior to any release. According to the NSA, FBI and the National Security Council, the Hubbell files are so sensitive that to release them today could result in charges of treason and the death penalty. The newly released Hubbell files are so secret that even the code word classification level was blacked out for "national security" reasons. Furthermore, Justice was forced to admit that a 1993 letter from AT&T CEO Robert Allen to Hubbell was "destroyed pursuant to the records destruction schedules." This in itself is highly suspect because this author has obtained documents dating as far back as 1983 that were returned by the NSC -- over 10 years prior to the "destroyed" AT&T Hubbell letter. One document released by Justice is a March 1993 memo from Stephen Colgate, assistant attorney general for administration. Colgate's memo to Hubbell details the Clinton officials charged with bugging every phone in America. According to the Colgate memo, Vice President Al Gore was to chair a meeting with Hubbell, Reno, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Leon Panetta. The meeting was on the "AT&T Telephone Security Device." In 1992, AT&T had developed secure telephones the U.S. government could not tap. The Clinton administration secretly contracted with AT&T to keep the phones off the American market. According to Colgate, the secure phones were simply too dangerous for American citizens.... Part of the secret project included re-fitting the purchased AT&T phones with a new chip called "Clipper" developed by the NSA at Fort Meade, Maryland. This chip contained a secret "exploitable" feature allowing the government to tap the phone conversation with a special back door key. ..."

FoxNews 3/1/99 "…Attorney General Janet Reno has asked a federal commission to study the legality of taking DNA samples from everyone arrested instead of just sex offenders and violent felons, Monday's USA Today reported. he newspaper said such widespread testing would essentially place the genetic fingerprints of millions of Americans into state crime databases, even if they were never convicted of a crime…."

Associated Press 3/12/99 Laurie Kellman "… Republicans on both the Senate panel and the House subcommittee that oversees the department's budget took particular issue with the fact that Reno has not requested money for more border patrol agents next year. "It was not negligence, it was not sloppiness, it was not malice or evilness or badness or dumbness" that led her to hold up a request for more money, Reno told the House panel on Thursday. Rather, she said, the force is suffering from a flood of inexperienced border patrol agents and wants to wait until they are properly trained before hiring new ones. Republicans on both panels also criticized Reno for proposing to cut millions of dollars in local grants for juvenile crime and other initiatives while supporting "questionable social programs." "One could argue that the Clinton administration is trying to disguise social service programs as law enforcement initiatives," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah. Reno said that since violent juvenile crime is down, the Justice Department wants state and local governments to take greater responsibility for meeting their own needs in that regard…."

St. Petersburg Times 3/15/99 Editorial "…If being a Democrat once meant believing the Bill of Rights applies to more than just private property and gun ownership, Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI director Louis Freeh and President Bill Clinton have proved otherwise. Like the good paternalistic parent, they seem to think government governs best when it knows how its children are behaving. There's no need, apparently, to worry about silly constitutional rights. To keep their eyes on all of us, they've attempted to force manufacturers of new technologies to open a government-only back door for spying on private computer and telephone conversations. And they want to use medical information to pry into the private lives of citizens like never before. Reno's latest incursion is a request to a federal commission to investigate the feasibility of collecting and analyzing a DNA sample from every person arrested in the country, even those picked up on minor traffic violations. At a meeting of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence in Dallas, Reno asked the group to examine the potential for sampling every arrestee's genetics for permanent collection in a huge data base. In January, she mused that police in the future could check a person's identity during a traffic stop by use of a mobile DNA test…."

FOX - Brit Hume David Shuster Freeper Theresa 3/17/99 "…Report says Jackie's [Bennett] job search was hampered as Democrats shut him out of a half a dozen top Washington firms. He is the third of Starr's attorneys to leave. He is going to join a law firm in Indianapolis. Bennett and the other two attorneys who are leaving say thier roles at the OIC have come to an end as they were working mainly on the Lewinsky scandals. Other attorneys in Starr's office are remaining to work other cases. Bennett worked for the Justice Department for a number of years. Janet Reno once referred to him as one of the department's top trial lawyers. "…My comments. Starr announced Bennet's leaving saying Bennett "served with integrity"…."

Jewish World Review 6/1/99 Mona Charen "...When the creaky organs of counter-intelligence finally began to respond to this security catastrophe, they were thwarted by Clinton's agent. The FBI asked Janet Reno for authority to tap Wen Ho Lee's phone. Reno refused, claiming civil liberties objections. But according to Investors Business Daily, between 1993 and 1997 federal officials requested 2,686 wiretaps. Guess how many were refused? One. The corruption of this administration appears to be total. And there are willing Democrats in the Congress ready to "spin" on its behalf. Rep. Helen Tauscher, D-Calif., for example, worried aloud on PBS's "NewsHour" that "patriotic Asian-Americans were going to be scapegoated because of this issue." Whenever they find themselves in a corner, Democrats can be relied upon to play the race card -- even, it appears, to the point of self-parody...."

Vol 6 page 2649 10/11/98 Kenneth Starr Freeper reports ".Dear Deputy Attorney General Holder: Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure binds all attorneys for the government, including those employed by the Department of Justice who are privy to information regarding "matters occurring before the grand jury." And, as Chief Judge Johnson has recently written, Rule 6(e) protects against the disclosure not merely of the actual testimony of grand jury witnesses before the grand jury but also of the substance of their testimony as conveyed to government attorneys and agents in anticipation of their grand jury appearance. The enclosed article from Newsweek magazine recounts in detail what Officers Muskett and Byrne told "Secret Service and Justice Department lawyers." The article identifies its source as these "government lawyers" and makes out a potential & facie case that attorneys for the Department of Justice (and possibly Secret Service) involved in the litigation have violated Rule 6(e). Please advise me at your earliest convenience of the steps you are taking to identify the source of these disclosures and prevent future violations of Rule 6(e) so that 1. may take appropriate action.."

Wall Street Journal 2/16/99 George Melloan "...Politics is a combative profession and in some parts of the world frequently lethal. There is something to be said for a leader who usually wins, even when he sins. As Peggy Noonan wrote on these pages last week, Mr. Clinton is a man with so much political aplomb that he can instruct a room full of evangelicals in the importance of prayer even while he is charged with the grossest sex acts in a national shrine and with two felonies. "Don't do as I do," sayeth the prophet. "Do as I tell you."...Yet, it is worthwhile to ask whether this windy drama that has just been played out in Washington is likely to have any effect on the collective morale of 270 million Americans. Clearly, the Senate chose not to uphold the rule of law, something that the very practical, even crucial, importance of which a great many Americans seem to have forgotten or never learned. Mr. Clinton's character is reflected in a decline in the professionalism of the Department of Justice and by not a few abuses of the civil rights of American citizens. Waco and Ruby Ridge were only the most notorious examples. That too has a Third World ring..."

7/24/98 Houston Chronicle Paul Greenberg " How many times now has the attorney general of the United States had to invoke independent counsels to investigate this administration -- 10? And month after month, she's been staring at the need for an 11th -- to investigate her boss' campaign finances. And still she dawdles. This wouldn't be the first campaign to re-elect the president that needed investigating. But thanks to this attorney general's molasses-like progress, this one may never be exposed. The price of exoneration is eternal vacillation."

AP 2/18/99 Michael Sniffen ".Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, who is supervising the Justice Department's review of the Independent Counsel Act, advocated some changes Thursday to fix problems with the Watergate-inspired law. ``It is a statute that has some problems and needs some work, I think at a minimum,'' Holder told a news conference. Because the law expires this summer, ``we have an opportunity ... at a minimum, to tinker with it,'' he added... Some Democrats in Congress, angered over the conduct of counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of Clinton, have urged limiting or even killing the act. The American Bar Association, long a supporter of the law, voted recently to recommend its demise. The Justice Department has informed Starr that it intends to open an investigation of his dealings with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, officials have said..."

CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. 3/3/99 Paul Craig Roberts Freeper Bluse "…With only slightly more than one-third of the public casting ballots in the last federal election, our elected officials comprise a minority government.. . .the U.S. Senate's inability to do its job has left us with a rapist and a perjurer in the White House and an attorney general who investigates the law enforcers instead of the criminals…."

Drudge Report 7/3/99 "..." A former U.S. law enforcement official on Friday was chosen as the lead candidate to head Interpol, the global law enforcement organization. Ron Noble, former Treasury undersecretary for enforcement, was named during an executive session at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. Noble, 42, best known as the chief investigator of the failed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raid on the Branch Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas, is the only person the United States has ever nominated to head Interpol in the 75-year history of the organization. Attorney General Janet Reno personally picked Noble for the position. ..."

Boston Herald 7/3/99 "...Huang, who raised millions so illegally that most of it had to be returned, obviously can give answers to some very serious questions, such as: What was he telling Riady and what was he hearing from the CIA? Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) wants to bring him back before his investigating committee, after his sentencing next month, under a grant of immunity from further prosecution. Incredibly, Janet Reno objects because there's a ``continuing investigation'' still under way, and the Democrats on Thompson's committee will use that lame excuse to block immunity. We haven't seen the end of Reno's stonewalling, which saw the resignation of her special adviser on the fund-raising scandal and her rejection of the advice of the head of the FBI to seek an independent counsel. As we've said before, there are ample grounds for impeaching her and removing her from office. No Cabinet officer has ever been impeached, but the Constitution permits the impeachment of ``all civil officers of the United States,'' and she is one. What would be the grounds? Obstruction of justice for a start. No one in the House of Representatives has the stomach for another impeachment, so she skates. But honesty demands clarity about what she deserves....."

9/1/97 Tim Maier Insight Nation "…Secrets abound. Ira Sockowitz knows that all too well. The former New York administrative law judge and 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign fundraiser walked out the Department of Commerce in June with 2,800 pages of intelligence documents - many dealing with sensitive and highly secret satellite and encryption technologies. "He knew what he was doing," says one congressional investigator. "He had to. He held one of the highest level of clearance - top secret with code word." ….The interest House investigators have shown in Sockowitz is in sharp contrast to the strategy of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which chose to leave the Sockowitz case to others. It also is a signal that the House plans to concentrate on activities at Commerce - just the opposite of Attorney General Janet Reno, who shut down the Justice Department's probe of Sockowitz without even interviewing him…The value of the records could be tremendous for commercial brokers in the international-consulting business - the line of work to which Sockowitz return after his stint with SBA. Congressional investigators would like to know if he has used secret information obtained from those files in any manner for his Washington consulting firm, which conducts strategic planning for international companies. Does it make sense the SBA would be interested in secret information contained in those files relating to rockets, satellites, encryption and CIA political assessments of CHina, Russia and other foreign nations?…."

Michael Chapman Investor’s Business Daily 6/19/98 "…While at Commerce, Sockowitz held a top-secret clearance and kept classified files in a safe. Among these papers was "A Study of the International Market for Computer Software With Encryption." The CIA marked portions of this report "secret" and the U.S. Bureau of Export Administration said disclosure could "damage the national security by revealing export control problems that could be exploited to the detriment of the United States." The secret sections could reveal weaknesses in U.S. encryption defenses, David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy information Center, told IBD. Other papers Sockowitz locked away covered "remote sensing satellites," presidential waivers for satellite launches, "space commerce," and country files on China, Russia and India. Sockowitz also got documents on satellite encryptions from Hoyt Zia, chief counsel for Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration…"

Michael Chapman Investor’s Business Daily 6/19/98 "…Zia is a former Democratic National Committee fund-raiser and close friend of Huang. In May '96, Sockowitz's boss, Lew, moved to the Small Business Administration. He followed as her senior adviser on May 27. Three days after he moved to the SBA, Commerce OK'd a Sensitive Compartmentalized Information clearance for Sockowitz, a level above top secret. It let Sockowitz view the government's most tightly classified papers on encryption. Sockowitz didn't get an SBA top-secret clearance until July 29. The agency never gave him SCI. Sockowitz returned to Commerce for a visit on Aug. 2, 1996. While his successor there, Jeffrey May, was out of the office, Sockowitz removed 136 files from his old safe. He told a secretary only that he was gathering some personal items. Sockowitz wasn't debriefed when he left Commerce, something that would have required him to return any classified papers he held. Commerce says Sockowitz violated his clearance by not returning the files. But Sockowitz says his clearance traveled with him to the SBA and that nothing in the security manual prevented him from taking files. Sockowitz also says he never disclosed the papers and they never left his possession. He claims he needed the files for his SBA job. But the SBA told the conservative weekly Human Events that it knew of no projects that Sockowitz was working on that involved encryption, remote-sensing satellites or China…"

Michael Chapman Investor’s Business Daily 6/19/98 "… Sockowitz left the SBA In November '96. Again. he was not debriefed. He now works for the Strategic Planning Group in Bethesda, MD, an international business consulting firm. The company didn't respond to repeated requests by IBD to speak with Sockowitz. Justice stopped looking into the matter in December '96 without ever talking to Sockowitz, Lew or May. Hill told Judge Lamberth in March of this year that Brown worried that Sockowitz might have "funneled information to others." Larry Klayman, chairman of Judicial Watch, told IBD some of the files may have made their way to "a consortium like Iridium." Iridium is a global satellite mobile-phone business with partners such as China Aerospace. It competes with Loral's partly owned subsidiary Globalstar. At least four of Sockowitz's ex-Commerce colleagues work for Iridium. "Sockowitz was the first evidence that there may be an espionage element to this," Klayman said, adding that "Hill can confirm a lot that went on on those trips that dealt with matters that were not legal." For her part, Hill has said that Brown talked to her about how Commerce wanted to end satellite-export controls and how "encryption was a big issue," Klayman said. "Hill can confirm that this whole transfer of satellite technology (abroad) was a major initiative of the Clinton administration, and particularly in the encryption area," Klayman said. "All these companies were competing. And we know from Hill that satellites were what they were after -- the big bucks. Brown was very interested." …"

Committee on Government Reform 7/15/99 Dan Burton "….Now let me summarize my concerns with the Justice Department and Attorney General Reno. Before I start, though, let me play a tape. I think it is a very good introduction to how this Justice Department operates: [Tape Text]: La Bella: My favorite piece is these two message slips that I got when I was out of my office. At 12:10 on May 20th I got a call from Chairman Burton. Very important, please return the call. At, the same day, 12:10, the same time, it must have been the next phone call, . . . a call from Craig Iscoe who is in the deputy attorney general's office, saying don't talk to Dan Burton. Don't talk to Congressman Burton. So that really says it all. That's Washington in a nutshell. ..."

Judicial Watch 7/16/99 "…Johnny Chung, a Clinton fundraiser who admitted to funneling money from the China's military to the Democratic National Committee to help Bill Clinton, testified to Judicial Watch last week that the Reno Justice Department didn't want to hear all the information and evidence he had on Clinton Administration illegal fundraising and that he was abandoned by the Reno Justice Department despite repeated threats to his life from Chinese operatives. The complete text of Chung's testimony is now available on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org. Mr. Chung also implicated an unnamed top official of the Justice Department, head of the Civil Division, in an effort to keep him quiet by fixing the case against him on campaign fundraising. In fact, Mr. Chung received no jail time. But Judicial Watch believes that the Eric Holder, the number two at the Justice Department, is the likely culprit here.
Another star witness in this case, Nolanda Hill, implicated Holder in similar activity -- accusing him of wanting to keep her quiet about what she knows about the illegal fundraising of her former confidante Ron Brown, the Clintons, and Al Gore. Chung also implicated President Clinton directly in a scheme to keep Chung quiet. Chung testified that he was told by a Chinese operative that President Clinton had a deal with the Chinese that Chung would be pardoned as long as he kept quiet. Chung also gave testimony indicating that Clinton and the Chinese President had agreed together on a cover story to explain away the Chinagate scandal….Chung also testified about threats to his life from at least two squads of Chinese operatives sent to the United States to harm him and his family. Despite these and other threats, Chung was recently told by the U.S. Attorney (appointed by Reno) overseeing his case that he should "call 911" if any future threats occurred… His latest testimony puts him at significant personal risk and is an act of patriotism. The fact that Reno, with Chung's testimony and other evidence, hasn't indicted one high-level official is absolute proof of a massive cover-up, one that Judicial Watch is committed to unraveling…"

New York Times 7/16/99 William Safire "… The most dramatic clash between the F.B.I. and the heavily politicized Reno Department of Justice took place in February 1997. Stimulated by press reports of "the Asian connection" to the Clinton-Gore campaign, the Bureau teletyped all field offices for reports on foreign attempts to influence U.S. political campaigns. On Washington's Birthday the F.B.I.'s counterintelligence chief, John Lewis, delivered a packet of those top-secret reports to Janet Reno. "The Attorney General gave the packet of teletypes to then Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick," reports Michael Bromwich, the in-house Inspector General. At the same time, White House Counsel Charles Ruff made two calls to Justice seeking to find out what embarrassment was in store. Never told by Ms. Reno of F.B.I. restrictions on the documents, Ms. Gorelick bucked them to the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. They then blithely passed them on to Laura Ingersoll's Justice "task force," selected for its ineptitude. Nothing doing, said the F.B.I., which "retrieved the packet shortly after the Task Force received it," according to Bromwich. When I asked the F.B.I. Director, Louis Freeh, yesterday if he had been aware of the confrontation -- an unprecedented dispatch of agents to snatch back evidence from Main Justice -- he replied, "I knew about it and certainly approved of it." …Justice was passing the surveillance of messages to Ted Sieong and Maria Hsia -- both in direct contact with Al Gore in his fund-raising -- all over the building. And so the F.B.I. acted to prevent contacts with the White House officials under investigation, to avoid the sort of improper "heads up" given them in Whitewater….The name-no-names whitewash by Ms. Reno's I.G. admits that Congress was not given two pieces of espionage information it should have had until September 1997 -- after the Senate investigators had all but closed shop and Democrats happily declared the Asian penetration unproven…."

New York Times 7/16/99 William Safire "… Bromwich's 569-page report dumping on the F.B.I. and claiming innocent ineptitude on high is stamped "top secret" because it might jeopardize an ongoing failure at Justice. The two of its deep, dark secrets … are covered in Elizabeth Drew's new book that has a chapter about the successful obstruction of the Thompson committee investigation, "The Corruption of American Politics." One is the Hong Kong source of the $400,000 contribution of Indonesia's Sieong, most of it routed to the Democratic National Committee through his resident alien daughter…. Another secret was sent the committee only after its hearings were over. It alleged that Ms. Hsia had recruited someone in California's state government to be "an agent" for China. In the Bromwich sandwich, eight more bits of intelligence information concealed from Congressional oversight are deliciously embedded, but not for the public to see until after the next election…."

New York Times Company 7/16/99 David Johnston "…An unclassified summary of the inspector general's report, which was released on Wednesday, found that F.B.I. officials were at first reluctant to share raw intelligence with campaign finance prosecutors, senior Justice Department officials and lawmakers who demanded the information as part of their own investigations. Later, the report said, Justice Department officials provided too much unverified intelligence to lawmakers, fearing that Attorney General Janet Reno and her subordinates could be criticized by Republicans if they failed to turn over information that might be considered relevant to a Congressional inquiry…"

AP 7/15/99 "…U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno acknowledged Thursday bungling in the handling of sensitive intelligence about an alleged Chinese plot to influence U.S. elections. Reno said she accepted the main conclusion of a report that strongly criticized the FBI for failing to share the classified information in 1996 and 1997 with Congress and top FBI and Justice Department officials. But Reno maintained the delay in sharing the intelligence did not hurt the investigation by a Justice Department task force into various allegations of campaign finance abuses, including charges denied by China that it sought to influence the 1996 U.S. presidential election…. Bromwich also faulted "questionable'' Justice Department policies and practices in handling intelligence information. He said the department, concerned after September 1997 of being accused of withholding intelligence, adopted a policy of briefing congressional committees and the White House's National Security Council (NSC) on information of unknown reliability rather than waiting for it to be confirmed…."

AP 7/14/99 "…Bromwich called on Justice and FBI officials to resolve a dispute over how much to tell the White House's National Security Council about this intelligence. The FBI and some Justice officials believed providing China intelligence to the White House ``was akin to briefing the subject of an investigation about that investigation.'' Other Justice officials believed the White House needed to receive national security information from the probe. As a result, the FBI has not attended NSC briefings on the Chinese intelligence or campaign finance investigations, Bromwich said. Finally, until Reno stepped in, FBI counterspies insisted on giving campaign finance investigators paraphrases of their data rather than direct access to the intelligence….."

Chicago Sun-Times 7/18/99 Robert Novak "...Attorney General Janet Reno has refused to give former Justice Department lawyer Charles LaBella a copy of his own report recommending an independent counsel to investigate 1996 campaign finance irregularities, even though he removed any reference to secret grand jury testimony. Reno will not pemit members of Congress to see the LaBella report even on a confidential basis. After career prosecutor LaBella's recommendation became known, he was removed as acting U.S. attorney in San Diego...."

AP News Wire 7/21/99 "...Rep. Dan Burton, leading an investigation of campaign fund-raising abuses, asked two federal judges Wednesday to delay sentencing of two former Democratic fund raisers until Congress can obtain their testimony. Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, said that once Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie and John Huang are sentenced, they would have no incentive to cooperate with Congress....Burton wrote U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. in Little Rock, Ark.'..."

WorldNet Daily 7/22/99 "...The Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department are withholding evidence crucial to a $10 million civil suit alleging the tax agency audited the Western Journalism Center at the behest of the White House in 1996, says Judicial Watch chairman Larry Klayman..... a Treasury Department report obtained by the center through a separate FOIA request shows investigators found documents in the case file not yet produced by the IRS or Justice Department. Among those documents is a letter sent from the White House to IRS officials suggesting an audit of the center was in order.... "This new evidence, clearly suppressed by the administration until after a favorable ruling by a Superior Court judge, provides the smoking gun we were hoping to find in the discovery process," said Klayman. "I am confident this new revelation demonstrating the government systematically concealed the truth will persuade the courts to permit this case to proceed to trial and give us the opportunity to expose and punish these abuses of power." ..."

Washington Weekly 7/26/99 Marvin Lee "…Recent weeks have yielded unambiguous evidence of crime and abuse of power in the White House. Yet nobody seems to care. First, Judicial Watch unearthed a Treasury report that reveals that the White House orchestrated a politically motivated IRS audit of its client, the Western Journalism Center….. Second is the July 9 testimony by Johnny Chung that his $50,000 donation to Hillary Clinton at the White House was in return for a "wish list" and was directly solicited by aides of the First Lady to repay debts she had at the DNC. Among the items on the "wish list," or quid pro quo, was a visit to the White House Mess -- a wish that was immediately granted. When one of the requests of the wish list, a meeting with the President, was not immediately granted, Mr. Chung complained and he received the goods he had paid for. There cannot be any more obvious evidence of a quid pro quo than that. This is a clear violation of several statutes -- including prohibitions against taking bribes at the White House -- and a selling of tickets to the White House Mess, which is funded by taxpayers…."

Washington Weekly 7/26/99 Marvin Lee "…Most troubling of all are the at least four groups monitored by the FBI in their attempt to physically harm Johnny Chung or his family at the time he was a witness against the President and the DNC. Two of the groups where from China and it is reasonable to assume that they were sent by Chinese intelligence. But one incident involved an Italian-American. Now, if he wasn't sent by the Chinese, then who could have sent him? What U.S. interest could have wanted this witness silent? Perhaps the answer lies in Chung's testimony that the day after the FBI traced the license plate of the Italian-American, the Justice Department removed the FBI from the protection of Chung as a witness. And one of the Chinese agents relaying threats to Chung, Robert Luu, claimed that he was close to the "number three man" at the Justice Department….Johnny Chung in his testimony to Judicial Watch also relayed how he sensed that government investigators had no interest in the evidence of crime that he gave them. It is obvious that we would not have reached the current state of lawlessness had it not been for the active cooperation of the Department of Justice and the mainstream media…."

The Washington Times: National Weekly Edition 7/19-25/99 AP "…Born out of the destruction of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, a little-noticed program has made strange bedfellows of FBI agents and militia members. On the orders of FBI Director Louis Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno, agents in the 56 FBI field offices around country have been finding ways to reach out to members of militia groups in their local areas. The program, established just weeks after the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 persons has been an open secret with positive consequences for the nation's top police agency and the militia movement…. The outreach program takes many forms. In Texas, several meetings have taken place in hinterland burgs like Dew, a community of 71 persons located some 100 miles south of Dallas. ….The meetings give militia members a chance to meet people like FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Danny Defenbaugh, who has been the subject of dozens of Internet newsgroups because of his role in leading the Oklahoma City bombing investigation. The sit-downs also help the FBI set the record straight on its motives. Last year, Mr. Defenbaugh requested a meeting in Dew to dispel rumors that he has charged with disbanding the groups…."

The New York Times (Letter to the Editor) 7/23/99 Michael R. Bromwich "…William Safire's July 16, 1999 column on the Justice Department's investigation into the handling of classified information in the campaign finance inquiry characterizes our report as "dumping" on the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also makes the erroneous statement that the report is classified as "top secret' because "it might jeopardize an ongoing failure" at Justice. Mr. Safire also suggests that the information will be made public after the next election. We found that the National Security Division within the F.B.I. failed to disseminate relevant intelligence information not only to Justice Department prosecutors and Congress but also to senior officials in the F.B.I.. [emphasis added] Our report is classified top secret because the F.B.I., not my office, deems much of the information to reveal sensitive sources and methods. We have no power to change that classification, not now or after any election. Michael R. Bromwich Inspector General, Justice Dept…."

Associated Press 7/16/99 Michael J. Sniffen "…Critics of the FBI crime lab are disappointed that the Justice Department has proposed ``minimal'' discipline -- censure of just two bureau employees -- despite a scathing inspector general report a year ago. Four lab supervisors also would have been disciplined but they have retired, according to a June 30 Justice memorandum obtained by The Associated Press. Five lab examiners criticized in the report avoided discipline because of either the ``staleness'' of their alleged misconduct, disputes over scientific issues, or the ``consistent and often spirited FBI opposition to any conclusion that its employees have engaged in misconduct or performed poorly,'' wrote Assistant Attorney General Stephen R. Colgate, who issued the disciplinary rulings….. Indeed, Colgate endorsed the inspector general's lab policy recommendations and added three more of his own designed to ensure that FBI lab examiners testify in court ``in an accurate and objective manner and limit their testimony to their documented scientific findings and areas of technical expertise.'' The slap on the wrist disappointed two lab critics: Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of a Senate subcommittee that supervises the FBI, and the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Bromwich….."

Washington Times 7/26/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...The Clinton administration cannot stand up to Beijing, because Beijing used illegal campaign contributions to compromise the Clinton administration. The most striking feature of President Clinton's foreign policy is its lack of consistency. A different view would be that his policy is consistent only in its perversity. Compare Mr. Clinton's China policy with his Serbia policy. Mr. Clinton and his minions - for that is what they are - are hot and bothered because Taiwan referred to itself as an independent state. Mr. Clinton has cancelled or delayed various U.S.-Taiwan exchanges, and The Washington Times reports that Pentagon officials are "considering a cutoff of U.S. military assistance to show displeasure over Taipei's pro-independence comments." Taiwan has been an independent state for a half century. But Mr. Clinton cannot allow Taiwan to speak for itself as a state, because it makes China mad. We have a "one-China' policy, says the State Department. We do "not support Taiwan independence." China, whose human rights record is worse than Serbia's, has the Clinton administration by the short hairs. All the communist government in Beijing has to do is acknowledge that it made campaign contributions to Mr. Clinton and provide the evidence. That would blow Attorney General Janet Reno's cover-up of the illegal affair and send some Democrats off to prision...."

FOXNews.com 7/27/99 Carl Cameron "...A Justice Department task force investigating alleged illegal foreign contributions to the Democratic Party has possessed potentially incriminating documents since the fall of 1997, Fox News has learned. The documents - bank records from Citibank, which has branches in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong - indicate that big-time Democratic donor Johnny Chung received $300,000 from Chinese government officials. Sources say Chung in 1997 turned over the records, which show he received a wire transfer from Citibank's Hong Kong branch from Liu Chaoying, a vice president at China Aerospace, a firm that helps loft satellites into orbit on Chinese rockets. China Aerospace has worked numerous times with U.S. satellite makers Hughes Electronics and Loral Space & Communications, whose chief executive, Bernard L. Schwartz, was the top donor to President Clinton's re-election campaign, contributing almost $1 million.... Sources say the Justice Dept. never bothered to pursue the bank records, a simple piece of evidence that would have revealed that the origin of Chung's cash was one of China's top spies. A senior DOJ task force source said investigators chose to concentrate on other leads ....Sources say Johnny Chung, too, is telling friends he offered the Justice Dept. new details of White House and DNC knowledge of foreign fund-raising impropriety, but investigators "did not want to hear it." One senior Justice Dept. prosecutor expressed his frustration to Fox News, saying there is "fertile ground" to till and that he is being pressed to ignore it. ...."

FOXNews.com 7/27/99 Carl Cameron "...There is also a battle raging within the Department of Justice campaign finance task force over how to proceed with the plea-bargained sentencing of long-time Clinton friend and fund-raiser Yah-Lin Charlie Trie, who has pleaded guilty to fund-raising violations. Sources familiar with Trie's DOJ cooperation say some FBI investigators want to hold off on Trie's sentencing in order to pursue his allegations that top Democratic National Committee and White House officials were aware of - and on at least two occasions encouraged - illegally funneled foreign contributions to the Democratic Party during the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. Sources close to Trie say he has been trying to tell investigators about several alleged illegal contributions from a mysterious Macao businessman named Ng Lap Seng. Also known as Mr. Wu, Seng, who has ties to Asian organized crime, allegedly funneled several hundred thousand dollars to the DNC through various illegal means. Sources with knowledge of Trie's testimony say, however, that top-level Justice Dept. political appointees have expressed little interest in Trie's revelations and want the case wrapped up...."

Newsweek 8/2/99 "...Lawyers for wen ho Lee, the scientist suspected of spying for China, are set to meet with Justice Department officials this week to try to head off criminal charges against their client. Justice lawyers have told Lee's defense team they don't now contemplate espionage charges. Instead, the Feds are focusing on Lee's alleged transfer of nuclear codes from a secured computer to an unsecured one, where a third party, presumably Chinese agents, could access them. There's evidence of one intrusion, but the FBI still can't prove that a foreign government hacked into the files...."

The Dallas Morning News 7/28/99 Lee Hancock "...The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that evidence held by the Texas Rangers since the 1993 Branch Davidian siege calls into question the federal government's claim that its agents used no incendiary devices on the day that a fire consumed the sect's compound. "There's some evidence that is at least problematic or at least questionable with regard to what happened," said James B. Francis Jr. of Dallas, chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Mr. Francis declined to detail the evidence but said, "With the proper experts analyzing it, it might shed light as to whether an incendiary device was fired into the compound that day." Myron Marlin, a spokesman with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., dismissed the allegation. "It's more nonsense. We know of no evidence to support an allegation that any incendiary device was fired into the compound on April 19, 1993," Mr. Marlin said....Mr. Francis said Tuesday that some FBI officials made statements to Texas Rangers immediately after the fire "that are contradictory" to the federal government's account of what happened. Mr. Francis told The Dallas Morning News that he only recently became aware of those statements as he began looking into complaints about the lack of public access to evidence in the Davidian investigation. Mr. Francis said he became concerned enough to contact U.S. District Judge Walter Smith of Waco, who has presided over all the cases arising from the deadly standoff. DPS recently filed a motion asking Judge Smith to take control of the evidence in the case. "I took the steps to turn it over to the court so the court could decide what to do," Mr. Francis said. "I think it's very important that whatever the evidence is and whatever it shows, that all of it come out and let the chips fall where they may." .... "I said, 'It is in effect a cover-up. It is not intended to be, but in effect it is," Mr. Francis said. "It is a complete stonewall." Mr. Francis said he doesn't think there was "some grand conspiracy to hide the evidence. I think it evolved into a situation where that was the effect of it." He said the judge asked only "how much space are we going to need," when Mr. Francis proposed turning over the evidence in the case to his federal court in Waco. After the siege, about 40 Texas Rangers were assigned to investigate and gather evidence in the case, and their investigation became the backbone of a 1994 criminal trial in which eight Branch Davidians were convicted of charges ranging from manslaughter to weapons violations..... Evidence used in the federal prosecutions was transferred to DPS headquarters in Austin for safekeeping. Although Texas Rangers had custody of the material, Justice Department officials retained authority over who could see it. They ordered DPS officials to route requests for access to Washington....Mr. Francis and others in the agency said DPS officials became increasingly frustrated as they learned that Justice Department officials routinely sent those requests back to Austin with the explanation that the evidence was in the custody of Texas officials. "It was a perfect Catch-22 to block everybody from seeing the evidence," Mr. Francis said. "There is some evidence there that the world needs to see, in my opinion. The government does not want this evidence out, and yet, that's not right." .... "

AP via Fox News Wire 7/28/99 "...Evidence stored by the Texas Rangers may contradict the U.S. government's claim that no pyrotechnic devices were fired into the Branch Davidian compound the day it burned, The Dallas Morning News reported today. Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and about 80 followers died in the 1993 inferno at the compound 10 miles east of Waco, Texas. Authorities have denied using any incendiary devices during the assault that ended when the compound was consumed by fire. Investigators concluded that sect members set the fire..."

Reuters 7/28/99 Marcus Kabel "...Dallas businessman James Francis Jr, chairman of the three-member Public Safety Commission that oversees the state police, said he wanted wider public access to the evidence collected by Texas Rangers investigating the cause of the blaze. ``Some of the evidence appears to be problematic and at least raise legitimate questions'' about how the fire started, Francis told Reuters in an telephone interview, commenting on reports in Wednesday's Dallas Morning News....."

7/23/99 to Louis Freeh FBI from Rep Weldon "...I am writing to convey my strong concern about a serious breach of United States national security. According to Insight Magazine, in October Sandia National Laboratory officials sold as surplus an Intel Paragon XPS supercomputer with a capability between 150,000 and 200,000 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) -- one of the United States' most capable supercomputers operating today. The potential national security ramifications of this sale are disastrous. As I understand it, we remain unaware of the current location of this supercomputer -- it may even have already been transferred out of the country. If, in fact, this computer is or has been successfully transported out of the United States, the capability it will provide to the Chinese in their efforts to improve their nuclear weapons capability is enormous. In my opinion, this could be one of the most significant breaches of our national security. The problem is magnified because we do not know what the computer was used for at Sandia National Laboratory. There is a very real possibility that nuclear secrets may be stored on the system's hard drive. Even with a "wipe" of the supercomputers memory, much of the information that was stored on the system can be retrieved using advanced techniques.

There also exists the very real possibility that the Chinese have reassembled the supercomputer and are utilizing the system's capabilities right here in the United States. The possibility also exists that the Chinese may attempt to reverse-engineer the machine. ....As I understand it, the Department of Energy -- once alerted by the Intel Corporation of efforts by the buyer to obtain key components to reassemble the supercomputer -- attempted to reacquire the supercomputer by offering $2.5 million for its return. It had been sold to the Chinese national at the bargain basement price of $30,000. This appears to me as an attempt by DOE to quietly cover up the diversion...."

 

AP 7/29/99 "...A former China-based U.S. diplomat and the State Department office that investigated him for possible visa fraud refused to discuss the case with a congressional committee Thursday. ....Jacquelyn L. Williams-Bridgers, the State Department's inspector general, also refused to talk about the case at the hearing. She said the Justice Department had advised her that discussing it could violate grand jury secrecy laws.....The inspector general's investigation of Parish was conducted jointly with the FBI as part of the Justice Department's probe of campaign contributions, for which a grand jury was impaneled. Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung told the same congressional committee in May that Parish helped him get visas for dozens of Chinese. Chung said he ended his relationship with Parish after the president of a Chinese beer company asked him to deliver ``a shopping bag of money'' to the then-consular officer....Committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., said he was appalled at Williams-Bridgers' refusal to discuss the investigation. ``This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,'' he said, saying it was typical of what he considered the Justice Department's stonewalling on campaign fund-raising issues under Attorney General Janet Reno. Burton said his staff found that foreigners are willing to pay up to $20,000 for a U.S. visa. He accused the State Department of bumbling its investigation of Parish, destroying documents before reviewing them and failing to interview witnesses or subpoena bank records. ``Everybody dropped the ball,'' Burton said...."

AP FoxNews 7/30/99 "..."I'm absolutely furious," said Burton, R-Ind., after the Justice Department prevented the State Department's inspector general from discussing her office's 1996 investigation of former top consular officer William Parish. The inspector general, Jacquelyn L. Williams-Bridgers, told the House Government Reform Committee on Thursday that any comment on the case could violate rules on grand jury secrecy since the investigation was conducted with the FBI as part of the inquiry into campaign finance abuses for which a grand jury was impaneled.... testimony from Bonnie R. Cohen, under secretary of state for management, who told the lawmakers that Parish was aggressively investigated in 1996 and the inquiry "did not reveal criminal wrongdoing." Cohen said the federal government "aggressively pursued leads" in the case and found no need to take action against Parish. She said he "performed in an excellent manner" on visa duties in Washington, where he was transferred during the investigation. Parish retired last year...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 7/29/99 Jerry Seper "...The civilian head of the Texas Rangers yesterday called into question FBI claims that its agents didn't ignite the windswept fire that killed 86 members of the Branch Davidian sect, including 24 children, in 1993. James B. Francis Jr., chairman of the three-member Public Safety Commission that oversees the Texas Rangers, said items found at the site were "problematic or at least questionable" in corroborating FBI claims that its agents did not fire a single shot or use any incendiary devices during the 51-day siege. "With the proper experts analyzing it, it might shed some light as to whether an incendiary device was fired into that compound that day," Mr. Francis said, adding that the evidence included shells, shell casings and other "physical things." He declined to elaborate. Seventeen of the children who perished in the fire were younger than 10 years old....The existence of the evidence was first reported by the Dallas Morning News, which said a researcher for a 1997 film documentary critical of the siege was allowed access to it last spring in preparing for a new documentary on the standoff. The researcher, Michael McNulty, told The Washington Times he found a number of questionable items in the material, including "flash-bang" devices commonly used by law enforcement to stun suspects. He said the devices -- ignited by a small pyrotechnic charge -- can start fires in enclosed spaces and were found in areas of the compound in which the fires ignited...."It's our belief that these pieces of ordnance could and probably did have an impact on the fire on April 19," he said. Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin called the conclusion "nonsense." He said the department had no evidence "that any incendiary device was fired into the compound on April 19, 1993." ...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 7/29/99 Jerry Seper "...The sect members died when a fire fanned by high winds swept through the compound after the FBI had forced the chemical O-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, known as CS, into the facility. The chemical, a white crystalline powder, poured into the compound for six hours before the building erupted into an inferno and burned in minutes. The White House and the FBI later acknowledged that CS had been banned for military use at the Chemical Weapons Convention in Paris in January 1993, because of its danger, but nevertheless called its deployment "appropriate." The Justice Department report said the fire that ravaged the compound was deliberately set by sect members. The CS was blown into the compound through compressed air canisters to force sect members into a smaller area of the sprawling compound..... Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the April 1993 assault because of what she said were reports that the children were being physically and sexually abused. She later acknowledged that the FBI had no evidence of abuse, telling reporters at the time she had misunderstood what FBI officials had told her two days before the raid. The reports of child abuse were central to Clinton administration justifications for the deadly raid, which was said to have been designed to rescue the children...."

World Net Daily 7/29/99 Joseph Farah "... The New York Times reports the Clinton administration has developed a plan for "an extensive computer monitoring system, overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to protect the nation's crucial data networks from intruders." "The plan, an outgrowth of the administration's anti-terrorism program, has already raised concerns from civil liberties groups," reports the Times. "A draft prepared by officials at the National Security Council last month, which was provided to The New York Times by a civil liberties group, calls for a sophisticated software system to monitor activities on non-military government networks and a separate system to track networks used in crucial industries like banking, telecommunications and transportation....And, vice versa: Since this shocking plan was revealed in the pages of the New York Times, there is little reason for any American to question its veracity or to suggest that it is being sensationalized. Therefore, for those out there who still cannot believe that this administration would actually use all the power of the federal government to go after its political enemies, perhaps this story will demonstrate the true character of the Clinton machine. These are totalitarians. The people running the executive branch of the federal government are nothing less than fascists. No other descriptive quite fits. They would think nothing of turning America into a police state -- if they haven't already brought us to that point. And they would do it without a second thought. They'd do it while telling you the whole time that they are protecting you, safeguarding your interests, making you more secure...."

ABC 7/31/99 David Ruppe "...Is Uncle Sam illicitly reading your e-mail? Listening in on your telephone calls? Scanning your faxes? Some in Congress suspect advances in communications technology in recent years may have enabled America's biggest, and most secret, spy agency, the National Security Agency, to greatly increase its eaves- dropping powers at the expense of Americans' privacy. But they can't be sure without a thorough congressional examination into the agency's practices. And, they say, the NSA has not yet provided all the information requested by the House Select Intelligence Committee, which is looking into the question. That the National Security Agency intercepts Americans' missives is clear. Observers point to the agency's practice of intercepting massive volumes of communications through spy satellites and by listening to commercial communications satellites, which inevitably draws in the communications of U.S. citizens for whom the agency has no court order.....Government officials admit the NSA's collection methods do draw in communications made by U.S. citizens. "Read the statute, the executive order, the legislative history, and what you'll find is the underlying assumption is that you can't avoid collecting U.S.-person information incidentally if you are going to do foreign intelligence collection," says an official familiar with the agency..... Still, critics say there is no way to be sure the NSA's judg- ments consistently respect citizens' rights unless the congressional committees responsible for overseeing those rights have full access to information on how the agency applies the laws..... "

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...After outlining on Tuesday night how the Justice Department thwarted probes or failed to pursue leads involving Johnny Chung, John Huang and Charlie Trie, FNC's Carl Cameron returned Wednesday night with a look at how two others with names not uttered much recently will also escape charges. In a piece which led the July 28 Special Report with Brit Hume, but unlike the previous story did not also appear an hour later on the Fox Report, Cameron began: "Indonesian businessman Ted Sioeng funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal Chinese contributions to the Democratic Party in 1996. He dined with the President at one glitzy fundraiser and accompanied the Vice President to another at a Buddhist temple. And though FBI and congressional investigators say they have conclusive evidence that Sioeng worked for Chinese intelligence, Fox News has learned no charges of any kind will be brought against him. "Sioeng fled a year ago to the Central American nation of Belize, refusing to cooperate with U.S. investigators. Despite owning a Chinese-language newspaper and several import-export firms in California, investigators have no plans to freeze or leverage Sioeng's U.S. assets to bring him back."..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...Cameron then moved to Sioeng's partner.... Hsia currently faces only minor tax and election fraud charges, although she was identified by Congress as a Chinese agent." Reporter in crowd outside courthouse: "Are you an agent for the Chinese government, Ms. Hsia?" Nancy Luque, Maria Hsia's attorney: "She's certainly not an agent of the Chinese government." Cameron countered: "But even before her lawyer's denials, the Justice Department had what sources tell Fox News was conclusive evidence that, indeed, Hsia was working for China. But like similar intelligence information in the Sioeng case, investigators mishandled it and both suspects are now about to slip through the net."..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...But that's all part of a pattern, Cameron noted in again citing a report ignored by the other networks: "According to an inspector general's report, key facts in the Justice Department's China cash investigation and specific intelligence data on Maria Hsia and Ted Sioeng's China connections was, quote, 'supplied in a fashion that belied their significance' because it was, quote, 'serendipitously included in memoranda on other subjects, or buried amid documents.' That so downplayed the evidence that, quote, 'Some officials were unaware that they had received these pieces of information.' Cameron honed in on Reno and how the FBI was afraid to share information because they knew the White House would get it: "Some Justice Department investigators suspect their bosses deliberately dropped the ball to protect the President, though the inspector general concluded it was poor judgment and not intentional. But congressional critics think Attorney General Janet Reno and her closest advisers were playing pure politics. And according to the report, when Reno's top troops wanted to share evidence with the White House, the FBI protested, even boycotted meetings, to prevent the handing over of such information, saying it was, quote, 'akin to briefing the subject of an investigation about that investigation.' ..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...Giving a clue about who is providing him with his information, Cameron observed: "Line-level investigators and prosecutors, disgruntled with the way Department of Justice management have handled, and some say botched, this entire case, almost daily now are disclosing more information. Last night Fox reported on how the initial investigation into the Buddhist temple fundraising event was thwarted by the attorney general's office. In fact, one specific individual, the head of the Office of Public Integrity, Lee Radick (sp?), has essentially been fingered as trying to close down that investigation. And as a result, Congress plans to subpoena Mr. Radick's documents to find out whether or not he tried in some way to close things down in order to protect the President." ..."

Fox News Channel 7/30/99 Freeper Cincinatus' wife reports "...Fox News had a long report today on Burton's investigation of the China campaign money connection. Carl Cameron's still on this story. Tony Snow's Sunday show will be doing an in depth story on Janet Reno's obstruction of this investigation. Carl Cameron reported about FBI investigators being pulled back from issuing a search warrant in Little Rock for Charlie Trie even as they were on the way to serve it. This order to desist, came from Reno's Justice Department even though investigators had told Justice that document shredding was going on. Cameron reported that investigators were told by someone in Washington (I didn't get his name), that the investigation should stop because Justice was going to have an independent council look into this and while at the same time, this same person was arguing against an independent council back in Washington. A woman who is on Dan Burton's committee looking into this, said Justice has blocked and given heads up to people who then had time to skip the country and shred evidence. She also said that the Buddhist monks were given time, by the Justice Dept., to shred documentation . This was quite a report and Tony Snow's Sunday Fox News program should be a block buster...."

Judicial Watch 8/2/99 Larry Klayman "... Republican leaders admitted on the weekend talk shows that, as far as the Republican-controlled Congress is concerned, Chinagate is, for now, a lesser-issue and must await a new Administration before any real action is contemplated. Congressman Chris Cox, when asked what he will now do about allegations of corruption at the Clinton Justice Department, admitted, AThis will have to await a new Justice Department and a new President....Most in Washington, D.C. know the Reno Justice Department is in full cover-up mode, yet Republicans sit on their hands. Whether it is Reno and other Justice officials looking the other way as Chinagate evidence was shredded, or Renos refusal to authorize a wiretap for a suspected Chinese spy, there is ample evidence that the Clinton Justice Department cant be trusted and is corrupt at the highest levels. Johnny Chung, one of the few Chinagate figures to testify truthfully and who was therefore targeted to be killed by Chinese agents, testified to Judicial Watch that he was recently told by the Reno Justice Department to call 911" if he and his family were threatened again...."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 8/20/98 Robert Novak "...As it downsizes and gets ready to go out of business, the Justice Department's task force on campaign finance is acting strangely. It lists as "ongoing" long-dormant cases that could embarrass President Clinton. It has classified as "inactive" the probe of an inquiry into a major fixer of illegal Chinese campaign contributions. And it still lists as "active" an inquiry that appeared to surely be dead: targeting former Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour. This is the kind of information that closed-mouth Attorney General Janet Reno would not reveal to Congress, much less to the public, even under excruciating torture. The status of the task force's investigation is disclosed in a three-page memo dated June 4, which was not leaked by the zippered-up Justice Department but was inadvertently released. In the intervening two months, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder has been desperately trying to retrieve all copies. No wonder. The cryptic document tends to confirm suspected politicization at Justice. That is the interpretation of Reno's most severe congressional critic: Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. Shown a copy of the task force document, Burton told me: "The attorney general was blocking for the president, to keep us from holding hearings."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 8/20/98 Robert Novak "...Surprise No. 1: Listed among the "ongoing investigations" are former Democratic National Chairman Don Fowler and businessman Roger Tamraz....Surprise No. 2: Also in the "ongoing" category is the Lippo Group, the Asian conglomerate that poured big money into Clinton's 1996 campaign. The Burton committee last year cited $1.2 million in illegal contributions from Lippo, but here, too, it has been forestalled by a Justice proceeding that shows no progress. Surprise No. 3: Former Clinton White House aide Mark Middleton, accused of engineering campaign loans, was stricken off the task force's list of investigations "likely to be [closed] shortly" and added to the "ongoing" list with this notation: "reinvigorated in light of Trie debriefing." Just what the Justice Department learned from Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie, who has made a plea bargain, is a mystery. Surprise No. 4: Liu Chao Ying, the daughter of a highly influential Chinese general, is on the list of "pending inactive investigations"--a real eyebrow-raiser.... Surprise No. 5: After two years of facing gossamer charges involving 1996 Republican soft-money contributions from abroad, GOP insider Barbour--now a member of George W. Bush's "exploratory" committee--is still on the "ongoing" list.... Surprise No. 6: Nearly two years since Burton was accused of trying to shake down a lobbyist, Reno's archenemy is now listed in the "shortly-to-be-closed" category with this notation: "closing memo sent to Public Integrity section of Justice Department." Was this fruitless investigation kept open for so long, with no announcement of the "shortly" designation and without notifying Burton, in order to give the attorney general a club? ..."

Roll Call 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "... It smells. Despite abundant evidence that Democratic fundraisers channeled Chinese government money into the U.S. election campaign in 1996, no one is going to jail. One by one, Attorney General Janet Reno's Justice Department has cut generous plea bargains with the money launderers and hasn't come near prosecuting any Democratic Party or White House officials. And if there is any connection between Chinese money and cozy Clinton policy toward China, it's unlikely to be discovered as Justice lets the fundraisers off and removes their incentive to talk. Today, one of the major figures in Chinagate, John Huang, is scheduled to be sentenced to a fine and community service after pleading guilty to minor charges having nothing to do with the $1.6 million he raised that the Democratic Party was forced to return. Instead, the Justice Department charged him with making two illegal donations worth $7,500 in two California campaigns in 1993 and 1994....In spite of all the tantalizing investigative leads Huang represents -- and in spite of his utter refusal to cooperate in Congressional Chinagate investigations -- Justice is closing out its probe of Huang with a slap on the wrist and a promise to bring no further charges against him. ...Later this month, Justice is scheduled to close the books, too, on President Clinton's friend, Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, who raised more than $1.3 million -- mainly from Asia -- that had to be returned. He, too, has refused to cooperate with Congress, yet was permitted to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison and fines of $350,000, but prosecutors recommended that Trie get a penalty of three years' probation. ..."

Roll Call 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "... Cameron reported that Mansfield, who successfully prosecuted former Rep. Jay Kim (R-Calif.), was ordered to desist in a letter from Lee Radek, head of the public integrity section of the Justice Department, on grounds that it was a matter for an independent counsel to investigate. However, no independent counsel was ever appointed -- with Radek reportedly one of those most vociferously urging Reno not to take that step....Burton also has been chasing down evidence, also reported by Cameron, that in 1997 the Justice Department ordered the immediate return to Washington of an FBI agent and prosecutor sent to Little Rock, Ark., to stop documents from being shredded by Trie's secretary. And Burton charges that, for two years, the Justice Department failed to follow up on information it had about the wire transfer of $300,000 to Chung through a Citibank account of Liu Chaoying, a Chinese military officer, aerospace executive and daughter of China's former military chief. Burton has appealed to Reno and to federal judges in Little Rock and California to hold off the sentencing of Trie and Huang to give them an incentive to testify before his Government Reform Committee.

Chances are, the fundraisers will get off. The former chief counsel in Thompson's 1997 campaign finance probe, Michael Madigan, said the plea bargains have "all the earmarks of something being swept under the rug." Indeed, they do..."

Usatoday 7/29/99 Thor Valdmanis Paul Davidson "...After several failed attempts to settle a nasty antitrust battle out of court, the government is refocused on breaking up software giant Microsoft. Senior officials at the Justice Department have approached at least two leading technology investment banks in recent days, requesting a detailed analysis of how best to break up the world's most valuable company - a complex study that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bankers at the two firms, who requested anonymity, said Justice officials wanted an assessment of where the logical breakup points of Microsoft were and a valuation of what the market reaction would be. Both firms declined, worried about the impact of siding with a Justice Department that they say is viewed in the business community as interventionist....."

Los Angles Times 8/1/99 William Rempel "...Attorneys for Wen Ho Lee have made a spirited last-ditch effort to head off indictment of the fired nuclear weapon scientist, arguing in a confidential report to the Department of Justice and in recent private meetings with prosecutors that Lee "used considerable care" to protect the security of secret nuclear codes when he transferred data to an unclassified computer system. The transfers were made for "a good reason," the attorneys asserted, explaining that it was easier to work with the data outside the classified system and because the extra file provided a backup in case the computers crashed. The attorneys called Lee a victim of political hysteria and "a scapegoat for the scandalous lack of security" at the national weapon laboratories, which are run by the Department of Energy....In another case much like Lee's, defense lawyers said that a Los Alamos scientist downloaded from a classified computer to an unclassified system material from the lab's "green book," a secret assessment of the status, maintenance needs and vulnerabilities of some of the nation's most sophisticated weapons. "The scientist was fined and suspended but kept his job and was not criminally prosecuted," the brief says. "Given the numerous individuals who have mishandled classified information but have not been prosecuted, the discriminatory effect of charging Dr. Lee is clear," it says...."

Freeper kristinn reporting on FoxNews 7/28/99 "...Fox News reporting that the head of the Justice Dept. public integrity division has been subpoenaed by Rep. Burton's committee for issueing an order to cease investigating Al Gore's Buddhist Temple fundraising. Schippers says an unchecked Justice Dept. is a danger to Americans. Says there is unequal justice at Justice. O'Reilly suggests Reno is a traitor--Schippers demurs; O'Reilly asks if Reno is corrupt--again Schippers demurs. Schippers represents someone who worked at the "Argonne" (sp.?) lab, says through second hand word, that Hazel O'Leary blacklisted white males for promotion at the Energy Dept, by going over promotion lists and scratching off all white males. Schippers says the information his client has given him about national security is, "FRIGHTENING." ..."

Freeper Lady In Blue 7/28/99 on FoxNews "...I just got through looking at the segment on O'Reilly with Schippers. I'm sure I had my mouth wide open! I can't believe it. The part that got me, and I just assumed Schippers and the other investigators would be primarily interested in the campaign funds going into the DNC, illegal immigrants by the load coming into the U.S. without FBI investigations and the kicker - going into large cities where their votes could swing the election!!!!!!Lord help us!!!! ..."

MSNBC 7/29/99 Michael Moran "...The United States passed up an opportunity to apprehend two of the men thought to be directly involved in the bombings of its embassy in Kenya last year because of a dispute between the FBI and the State Department, senior law enforcement officials and diplomatic sources said Thursday.... THE DAY after the Aug. 7, 1998, attacks, two of the suspected bombers were arrested in Sudan, which then offered to turn them over to the FBI, according to accounts from two senior U.S. law enforcement officials and diplomatic sources. Those accounts were also confirmed by documents obtained by MSNBC. ..."

Ether Zone Online (http://etherzone.com) 8/1/99 Bob Momenteller "...Brief excerpts from a 168 report released on Wednesday, concluded there's no basis to charges that President Clinton's chief Whitewater accuser, David Hale, was paid off.... Hale alleges, under oath, that then-Governor Clinton pressured him to help secure an illegal $300,000 Small Business Administration loan. $50,000 to $60,000 from the illegal loan was funneled into the Clinton-McDougal cash-strapped Whitewater real estate development. The late Jim McDougal, one of Clinton's Whitewater partners, corroborated Hale's testimony. In a March 17, 1998 "Road To Hale" article, Salon charged while under FBI custody, Hale allegedly received payments from a bait-shop owner, Parker Dozhier. Dozhier received monthly payments as a stringer for the American Spectator magazine. The American Spectator Education Foundation, a non-profit group associated with the American Spectator magazine, received contributions from the Scaife Foundations. Richard Mellon Scaife is the head of the foundation. The fairy tale ending to all this of course, is that Richard Mellon Scaife bought Hale's testimony against Clinton. .....The basis of Salon's story was an eyewitness account from a Caryn Mann. Mann was a disgruntled ex-girl friend of Parker Dozhier. She gave Salon eyewitness details of the money being transferred between Parker and Hale..... She was also employed by a private investigative firm headed by two former Arkansas state troopers who undertook a 1996 photo-surveillance assignment for the National Enquirer of a Little Rock woman, not identified, seeking to learn whether she was having a romance with independent counsel Kenneth Starr. It turned out that man just looked like Starr. In a letter to the Justice Department, Hale's lawyer also claims that Mann was a "psychic, tarot card reader, and fortune teller" who claimed "to have knowledge of the last resting place of the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. Other than Mann's son, who would have been 13 years old at the time, Salon comes up empty handed in the creditable witness department for such serious allegations. Salon's two other concocted witnesses wanted to remain anonymous. Credible or not, U.S. Attorney, P.K. Holmes sent FBI agents to interview Mann. Mann told several news outlets, including the Washington Post, that the FBI visited her after a reporter for Salon contacted retired Senator David H. Pryor (D-Ark.). Salon contacted Senator Pryor on her behalf for assistance in getting the attention of Arkansas law enforcement officials. Former Senator David Pryor is the head of Clinton's legal defense fund.

Ether Zone Online (http://etherzone.com) 8/1/99 Bob Momenteller "...As we charged in our exclusive article in October of last year, "Salon created a story and then colluded with the head of Clinton's legal defense fund, former Arkansas Sen. David Pryor, to improperly instigate an investigation of fabricated allegations of witness-tampering." Salon was also given a free pass by the White House to the Clinton Justice Department. The department investigators were just a phone call away and bingo, they had the inside information on the progress of the Hale investigation. The investigation that they themselves orchestrated....To help promote Salon's left wing attack, Geraldo Rivera kept the story alive by promoting Salon's allegations night after night on his CNBC show. At the time, a full FBI investigation had been called for by Congressman DeLay on Salon. The investigation was to focus on this and the Hyde-Burton expose. Of course, the FBI investigation never materialized, much too political to handle. Indeed, had a legitimate investigation been given to the matter by either the DOJ or FBI, Salon's Editor in Chief, David Talbot, would be behind bars. Mark Levin of Landmark Legal made a stronger case against the White House and Salon. He wrote a report to the Justice Department's criminal division as well as the OIC. "I am not convinced that the current political leadership at the Justice Department is capable of putting the law before Mr. Clinton's political interests." Sadly, they still were not and still aren't. Salon continues to be a mouth piece for the White House and tends to sensationalize every political story with their left wing agenda. They do not report the news, but create it. Salon's chief Democratic backers, Hambrecht & Quist, continue to support their internet darling with a recent IPO and a $15 million dollar loan...."

Ether Zone Online (http://etherzone.com) 8/1/99 Bob Momenteller "...Once again, Salon cannot be taken as a serious news organization. Without exception, they are nothing more than a supermarket tabloid, disguised in corporate cloth. How long will Hambrecht & Quist continue to float this lost venture? We suspect as long as there is need for Hambrecht & Quist to fund a liberal platform in return for political favors in their investment world. William Hambrecht is a major donor to Bill Clinton and the DNC. The administration's open door policy on China has allowed this investment banking firm to profit in the supply of goods to the Peoples Liberation Army. Their latest venture in a $1.2 billion high tech silicon valley factory in Hong Kong is bound to keep the money rolling in and the favors at a high premium...."

***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** 8/2/99 Vol Four 134 "...6) Fox's Carl Cameron revealed how a Justice official stymied the Buddhist temple probe by shutting down the local prosecutor...."

fox.com 8/2/99 Carl Cameron "...Just a few hours before former Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang was to plea bargain to minor fund-raising violations and be sentenced to probation and a fine, a federal judge in California ordered a last-minute delay Monday to determine whether Huang should be forced to testify before Congress before his case is closed. At the same time, Clinton friend and fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie's scheduled plea bargain two weeks from now in Little Rock was postponed by top Justice Department officials. Attorney General Janet Reno's aides were persuaded by the FBI's Campaign Finance Task Force to further investigate what sources say is Trie's assertion that some White House and Democratic National Committee officials knew he was soliciting and receiving illegal foreign contributions...."

fox.com 8/2/99 Carl Cameron "...The chair of the House investigation into illegal foreign campaign contributions, Dan Burton, R-Ind., has for weeks been asking Justice to postpone Huang's and Trie's sentencing so he could question them. Justice declined. Under the plea deals Huang and Trie will not be charged for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal foreign donations - much of that from Chinese citizens and corporations - to help President Clinton get re-elected, but instead must cooperate with investigators. Burton complained that Huang and Trie are not being forced to testify against bigger fish and are being let off easy. "For them to not be prosecuted fully or get a plea bargain without then turning on some people higher up - it's just criminal," he said...."

NY Times 8/3/99 AP "...A hearing for John Huang was postponed when a Republican congressman demanded that the former Democratic Party fund-raiser testify before Congress before making a courtroom plea bargain. Huang, the Democrats' chief fund-raiser for the Asian-American community in 1996, brought in $1.6 million in questionable donations that later were returned. He has been cooperating with Justice Department investigators in their campaign finance probe......Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles, said Paez delayed the hearing until Aug. 12 and ordered attorneys in the case to begin submitting legal briefs on whether Huang's case should be postponed indefinitely...."

Press Release - House Committee on Government Reform Rep Dan Burton 8/3/99 "...Chairman Dan Burton today said that he hoped a federal judge's decision to postpone the sentencing of DNC fundraiser John Huang improved the chances that the Government Reform Committee and the American people would finally hear Huang's testimony. On July 15, Burton wrote to Judge Richard A. Paez, the Federal Judge presiding over the Huang case, to request that Huang's sentencing be postponed until he agreed to cooperate with Congress. Judge Paez referenced Burton's letter as the basis for his decision to postpone sentencing. Burton also wrote to the federal judge presiding over Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie's case and made the same request. Trie's sentencing has also been postponed. "Congress and the American people have waited for over two and a half years to hear from John Huang and Charlie Trie," Burton said. "I hope the judge's decision is a step in the right direction." ...."The one and only time that we got any cooperation from the Justice Department we were finally able to hear from Johnny Chung. His testimony laid to rest any doubts about whether the Communist Chinese Government tried to interfere with our elections," Burton said. "If John Huang and Charlie Trie are allowed to plead guilty without ever talking to anyone other than the Justice Department, there will always be doubts as to whether they got a sweetheart deal. I hope Judge Paez and Judge Howard will agree that John Huang and Charlie Trie should be required to cooperate with legitimate Congressional investigations." ..."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 8/3/99 Linda Satter "...If a House committee looking into possible campaign fundraising allegations wants to talk to Charlie Trie, it can stop trying to take advantage of a plea agreement he made in Little Rock and instead grant him immunity, Trie's lawyer asserted Monday.....The plea agreement he made with the Justice Department "plainly does not cover statements made my Mr. Trie in any other forum, such as a Congressional hearing," noted the brief filed by Washington defense attorney Reid Weingarten. It's not as if Trie hasn't alread cooperated and thus hasn't earned a sentence reduction, Weingarten argued. He noted that since the plea, which ended Trie's Little Rock trial that had been under way for a week, Trie has been "debriefed by the government" 14 times for a total of 75-100 hours...."

fox.com 8/2/99 Carl Cameron "...Christopher Cox, the California Republican who chaired the House committee that investigated Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons labs, also lodged complaints. "The way that John Huang was handled, the way that Charlie Trie was handled and the way future cases are apparently being handled raises some significant questions," he said. Cox was reacting to a Fox News report that the Justice Department may postpone or perhaps never indict Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, who was fired from his post in March amid allegations he passed weapons secrets to China....Though Lee is suspected of espionage, FBI and Energy Department investigators, along with New Mexico's U.S. attorney, decided the best charge to pursue for now was a lesser indictment for mishandling classified information. In his television appearance, Lee did admit violating national security regulations by downloading top secret nuclear computers codes to his unclassified desk computer. But, he said, "I do that routinely. I have never give those information to any unauthorized person." Wen Ho Lee's defense apparently has senior Justice Department officials second-guessing FBI counterintelligence and prosecutors on the case. Despite Lee's admission, Reno's aides have delayed the indictment that was scheduled to be handed up this week and may scrap it all - even though it was prepared by the U.S. attorney, supported by FBI investigators and has the support of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and members of Congress...."

www.foxnews.com 8/4/99 Cassandra Burrell "...Prompted by the case of a Mexican drifter suspected in nine killings, a Republican lawmaker is seeking to subpoena Justice Department information about crimes committed by immigrants after their release from previous arrests. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, has not received data he requested in mid-July, shortly after Angel Maturino Resendez surrendered to authorities in El Paso, Texas, a Smith spokesman said. The Immigration and Naturalization Service came under fire for allowing Maturino Resendez, suspected to be the "railroad killer,'' to slip repeatedly through its fingers. Smith's letter to Attorney General Janet Reno requested the information be delivered by July 31.....The July 14 letter from Smith said the Maturino Resendez case "has spotlighted the serious and long-standing problem of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's releasing from custody dangerous criminal aliens who then commit additional crimes.'' The letter asks Reno for data on immigrants who had previously committed crimes that could make them eligible for deportation...."

Washington Times 8/4/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...In July 27, the chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety, James B. Francis Jr., told the Dallas Morning News that evidence in possession of the Texas Rangers calls into question the federal government's account of the deadly federal assault and subsequent fire that claimed the lives of scores of men, women and children in the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. Mr. Francis wants to turn the evidence over to federal district court Judge Walter Smith. The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to block the Texas Rangers from releasing the evidence. Mr. Francis says that the Rangers have "some evidence that the world needs to see, in my opinion. The government does not want this evidence out, and yet, that's not right." Mr. Francis added: "It is a complete stonewall."...The Texas Rangers should not trust Judge Smith with the evidence. Judge Smith presided over the trial of the Waco survivors. He has been strongly denounced by the jury foreman and jury members for misleading the jury in order to sentence the survivors. The jury foreman has repeatedly criticized Judge Smith for sentencing the survivors for offenses for which the jury did not convict. Judge Smith deceived the jury to oblige the Justice Department. By handing down long sentences that the jury did not intend, Judge Smith prevented the verdict from casting doubt on the government's explanation of what happened at Waco and prevented the survivors from being available to the media to tell their stories.....Lawyers and investigators involved in the wrongful death suits tell me that they have powerful evidence that the federal government is guilty of criminal assault, criminal negligence, and reckless endangerment...."

Washington Times 8/4/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...But some important evidence appears to have leaked from government officials sickened by the federal massacre and cover-up. There is a belief within the government itself that if the federal government gets away with its Waco cover-up, the casualty will be the rule of law. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark is a lawyer for many of the wrongful death suits. He described to me some of the key evidence: the FLIR tape (Forward Looking Infra Red), which shows federal automatic fire into the compound on the day of the fire. Mr. Clark also has Dr. Edward F. Allard's "Thermal Imaging Report" and the "Sun Reflection Geometry Report" prepared by Maurice Cox of the National Reconnaissance Office. These reports make clear that the images on the FLIR tape are images of federal gunfire. Mr. Hardy says he has an FBI report that acknowledges federal gunshots during the fire originating from an FBI position designated as Sierra One. Mr. Hardy also has an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms memo reporting that three ATF agents went on a friendly shooting excursion with David Koresh nine days before the initial ATF assault on the compound. ...Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark says the evidence of wrongful death is overwhelming --even without the powerful evidence in his possession. "The first civil right," Mr. Clark says, "is to be free from unlawful and excessive force by your own police. That is the difference between a free society and a police state." "At Waco a police force exceeding 700 men with armored vehicles began a systematic aggressive attack in a situation rife with flammable materials and high winds. It is indisputable that this is reckless endangerment." "How could it happen that a flimsy building full of men, women and children could be assaulted by the U.S. government in that way?"This question demands an answer..."

Roll Call, www.rollcall.com 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "...It smells. Despite abundant evidence that Democratic fundraisers channeled Chinese government money into the U.S. election campaign in 1996, no one is going to jail. One by one, Attorney General Janet Reno's Justice Department has cut generous plea bargains with the money launderers and hasn't come near prosecuting any Democratic Party or White House officials. And if there is any connection between Chinese money and cozy Clinton policy toward China, it's unlikely to be discovered as Justice lets the fundraisers off and removes their incentive to talk. Today, one of the major figures in Chinagate, John Huang, is scheduled to be sentenced to a fine and community service after pleading guilty to minor charges having nothing to do with the $1.6 million he raised that the Democratic Party was forced to return. Instead, the Justice Department charged him with making two illegal donations worth $7,500 in two California campaigns in 1993 and 1994..... In spite of all the tantalizing investigative leads Huang represents -- and in spite of his utter refusal to cooperate in Congressional Chinagate investigations -- Justice is closing out its probe of Huang with a slap on the wrist and a promise to bring no further charges against him. Later this month, Justice is scheduled to close the books, too, on President Clinton's friend, Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, who raised more than $1.3 million -- mainly from Asia -- that had to be returned. He, too, has refused to cooperate with Congress, yet was permitted to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison and fines of $350,000, but prosecutors recommended that Trie get a penalty of three years' probation. The third major Chinagate fundraiser, Johnny Chung, was sentenced in December 1998 to probation and community service. But at least Chung did cooperate with Congress...What's disturbing is that Thompson and other Republican leaders haven't kept energetically digging into the finance scandal, leaving the work to a few journalists, right-wing activists and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who's easily dismissed for hyper-partisanship..... Burton is pursuing some interesting avenues, such as a report by Carl Cameron of Fox News that a former crack federal prosecutor in California, Steven Mansfield, was ordered to halt a probe he started in 1996 into Vice President Al Gore's infamous fundraiser at a Buddhist temple. Cameron reported that Mansfield, who successfully prosecuted former Rep. Jay Kim (R-Calif.), was ordered to desist in a letter from Lee Radek, head of the public integrity section of the Justice Department, on grounds that it was a matter for an independent counsel to investigate. However, no independent counsel was ever appointed -- with Radek reportedly one of those most vociferously urging Reno not to take that step. Burton also has been chasing down evidence, also reported by Cameron, that in 1997 the Justice Department ordered the immediate return to Washington of an FBI agent and prosecutor sent to Little Rock, Ark., to stop documents from being shredded by Trie's secretary. ....The former chief counsel in Thompson's 1997 campaign finance probe, Michael Madigan, said the plea bargains have "all the earmarks of something being swept under the rug." Indeed, they do...."

The O'Reilly Factor 8/4/99 Freeper truthkeeper "...Bill O'Reilly said at the end of his show tonight that a MAJOR story was "just breaking:" Dan Burton's House Oversight & Reform Committee had issued a subpoena to Janet Reno regarding campaign finance. No details in yet, but I noticed there's a thread saying they'll be getting Mark Middleton's testimony, too...."

AP 8/5/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno today denied that the Justice Department has kept open campaign finance investigations involving Democrats to block Republicans in Congress from conducting their own. A House committee investigating alleged fund-raising abuses in the 1996 presidential election is barred from questioning anyone who is a target of an active Justice Department investigation...."

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...A bipartisan congressional investigation blasts the way the U.S. investigated China's nuclear espionage. A 22-page unclassified report to be released Thursday but obtained by FOX NEWS concludes "this is a story of investigatory missteps, institutional and personal miscommunications, and we believe legal and policy misunderstandings and mistakes at all levels of government. The DOE [Department of Energy], FBI and DOJ [Department of Justice] must all share the blame for our government's poor performance in handling this matter." ....The report says in 1995 the Dept. of Energy (DOE) limited its investigation to the theft of one warhead despite evidence independently gathered by both CIA and DOE that the security breach was much more significant and had included at least six other nuclear weapons..... Investigators concluded the most likely source of the breach was Los Alamos. They cross-referenced relevant staff with opportunities to pass secrets and pinpointed fired scientist Wen Ho Lee and his wife, Sylvia Lee. DOE record keeping was "spotty at best," so the report says it's possible that other scientists had both access to secrets and opportunity to pass them along..... The report says the second mistake came when the Department of Energy turned the case over to the FBI in May 1996, but inaccurately said Lee's computer could not be monitored. The agent already had Lee under investigation for other leads, and had investigated Lee in the 1982-84 case. This was the third full-blown investigation of Lee. ...."

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...In November 1996 the FBI wanted access to Wen Ho Lee's computers and asked the Department of Energy. "These conversations began a series of miscommunications and mistakes between Los Alamos and the FBI that had significant implications for the course of the Lee espionage investigation." The Department of Energy said Lee did not have a banner on his computer saying it could be monitored and had not signed any security waivers permitting searches. But the report says Lee had indeed signed a waiver and his computer did have banners saying his system might be monitored. As a result of the miscommunication, his computer was never monitored...."

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...This report says the second group of mistakes came when the FBI sought search warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The report says, "the FBI has conceded that it proceeded too slowly with its investigation, and perhaps should have requested FISA authority earlier but in April 1997 prompted by Lee's request to his Los Alamos superiors to hire a Chinese national as his research assistant the bureau finally began preparing a formal FISA request." The request was made June 5, but "for unexplained reasons and despite the fact that the FBI's field office had wanted a computer search in 1996 the Bureau did not request a computer search in this application, it merely requested other types of surveillance." ...."

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...By June 30 the Department of Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR) received the FISA request draft from the FBI. OIPR Deputy Council Allan Kornblum immediately forwarded it to the court marked "important and urgent" ....Still the first warrant application was "deemed wanting in probable cause." There was a subsequent appeal which was also deemed inadequate to approve the warrants. FBI went round and round with Department of Justice Office of Intelligence Policy and Review until August 1997. After the third application was denied, OIPR did not hear back from the FBI for a year and a half....The report concludes that the OIPR ignored ample probable cause. As FOX NEWS reported Wednesday night at 6 p.m., 18 elements of probable cause are sighted: (these are paraphrased) ..."

 

1.DOE counterintelligence had concluded there was a great probability that the W88 had been compromised between 1984-88 at Los Alamos

2.China recruits ethnic Chinese living in the United States to spy

3.China recruits academics and scientists, particularly those at restricted U.S. facilities like Los Alamos

4.Sylvia Lee had inordinate contact with visiting Chinese scientists, as did Wen Ho Lee

5.Sylvia Lee was downsized in 1995, and her file indicates security violations and threats to coworkers

6.When Wen Ho Lee and his wife visited China in 1986, he gave a speech on nuclear weapons in Beijing and visited China's top nuclear weapons lab

7.In 1988 Wen Ho Lee returned to China and its weapons lab

8.China encourages and/or pressures those who visit "the homeland" and tries to dilute their loyalties

9.In 1986 and 1988, the Lees took vacations to China

10.The FBI knew Lee made purchase of unknown goods in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1992

11.Lee's "contact reports" after visiting China did not disclose some of what the FBI deemed important

12.Lee worked on "legacy codes" (vitally important computer data from U.S. nuclear tests), a top priority of Chinese intelligence

13.The FBI learned that at Los Alamos Lee discussed unclassified weapons info with Chinese scientists and passed software and calculations

14.In 1997 Lee hired a Chinese national as a research assistant to work on unclassified legacy codes; the FBI learned there is no such thing as unclassified legacy codes

15.In 1984 Lee was questioned about contact in 1982 with another scientist under investigation

16.Answers during the above were deceptive, he a polygraph and admitted passing unclassified weapons information to China

17.The FBI was already investigating whether Lee "provided significant assistance to China" in another unrelated case

18.The FBI had a 1987 letter signed "Sylvia Lee" that sought to have Los Alamos documents sent to the Chinese nuclear weapons lab

 

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...When the FBI presented its 18 elements of probable cause for warrants in the Wen Ho Lee Espionage case (above), it expected the application to be processed by the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. The FBI assumed OIPR would forward the warrant request to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court for it to decide if there was probable cause. The FBI's warrant requests were never sent to the court, they were held up at Justice. The Thompson Lieberman report states the following verbatim: "Viewed together, in the 'totality of circumstances,' the FBI believed that this information amounted to 'probable cause' that Wen Ho Lee and his wife Sylvia Lee were 'agents of a foreign power' such that approval of electronic surveillance was authorized under FISA." OIPR, however, viewed the evidence against the Lees differently. OIPR argued that the information from the FBI's 1982-84 investigation of Lee and the FBI's more recent, separate, investigative lead, in particular, was not "current" enough to satisfy the statutory definition of an agent of a foreign power as someone who "engages in" intelligence activities.... Most importantly, however, OIPR viewed the FBI's case as being flawed from the outset and "the central reason" for that, OIPR attorney Allan Kornblum explained, "had to do with the fact that the DOE and Bureau (multiple) suspects, and only two were investigated. ... That is the principal flaw which ha[d] repercussions like dominoes throughout all of the other probable cause."

 

Congressional Report Blasts U.S. Inquiry of China's Nuclear Espionage 8/5/99 "...On August 14, 1997, the FBI's National Security Division Director, John Lewis, sent a memo to FBI Director Louis Freeh explaining that OIPR had repeatedly refused to forward its warrant requests to the court. According to the report: "In Lewis' view, Congress had created the FISA court precisely in order to enable it Ð rather than OIPR Ð to decide close cases." Lewis clearly believed OIPR should have gotten out of the way and let a judge decide if warrants were justified, as is the case in most criminal investigations. On August 20, 1997, the FBI took the unprecedented step of appealing the warrant rejections right to Attorney General Janet Reno; more delays ensued...."

Washington Times 8/5/99 Jerry Seper "...The committee also sent subpoenas for Justice Department records describing its campaign-finance task-force probe. Sources said investigators are not satisfied the Justice Department inquiry has been complete....The subpoenas also request records "relating to the unauthorized disclosures by the Justice Department" of secret grand jury information concerning the task-force probe. The sources said investigators are concerned the department leaked information to lessen the probe's impact -- in violation of grand jury rules. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday charged the Justice Department was "mired in an ethical quagmire" and was "quietly setting about to terminate" the campaign-finance probe.... Mr. Hatch also said his office was conducting interviews of Justice Department and FBI officials involved with the Chinese espionage investigation to determine how effective that probe has been...."

 

New York Times 8/7/99 James Risen "... The Energy Department has sought a delay in the Government's decision on seeking an indictment against a former Los Alamos scientist in connection with the mishandling of nuclear secrets, officials said on Friday. More time is needed, the officials added, to decide whether to release highly classified information for use as evidence. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has the legal authority to decide what classified information can be released. Officials said Richardson was waiting for a recommendation from the department's new security czar, a former Air Force General, Eugene Habiger. Habiger has to weigh whether the risks of exposing additional classified nuclear data outweigh the need for the prosecution of the scientist, Wen Ho Lee. Justice Department officials are mulling how to handle the case, and some reportedly believe that the case is too weak to prosecute...."

Investors Business Daily 8/9/99 "...With those words, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., described the U.S. government's investigation of Chinese espionage. We'd add words like ''shameful,'' ''pathetic,'' ''criminally inept.'' What remains to be learned is if ''treasonous'' applies. The report details how the FBI and the Energy and Justice Departments botched the probe time and time again. It reads like a how-not-to manual. We realize that hindsight is always clearer, but several mistakes stand out: After an agonizingly slow preliminary investigation, the FBI came up with 18 reasons to suspect Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwan-born scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The bureau sought a warrant from the Justice Department for his arrest. A midlevel Justice official said no. The FBI failed to push for Lee's arrest, even as it was continuing to investigate him. ''The bureau was apparently content to take 'no' for an answer,'' the report said. Justice and the FBI did not realize that the neutron bomb data that China obtained from the U.S. could have come from any number of sites in the U.S. The probe focused almost exclusively on Los Alamos..... This leads us to believe, at the very least, that the culture of the Clinton administration spawned an indifference to U.S. national security -especially where China was concerned. An engagement policy is one thing; coddling a communist country is another. And not caring enough to conduct a professional investigation into whether that communist country got our nuclear secrets is even worse All of which makes us wonder: Was there more than just incompetence at work here? ....."

Fox News O'Reilly Factor 8/5/99 Bill O'Reilly ".... The House Committee on Government Reform... chaired by our first guest Congressman Dan Burton ... has sent four subpoenas to Janet Reno concerning her campaign finance investigation..... Ms. Reno says she cannot comment while her investigation is on-going. But journalist Robert Novak reports that an internal memo at Justice ... says Reno is keeping dormant investigations open ... so she has an excuse not to say anything about campaign finance. Reno denies that but will not comment on why inactive investigations are being kept open. She also says the memo should not have gotten out to the public. Talking points has believed for months that something is very wrong in the Justice Department ... and obstruction of justice there is not out of the question. Points is also amazed that no major newspaper even mentioned that Ms. Reno had been subpoenaed. Could there be a cover-up of the cover-up? ..."

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "... For his part, the FBI's "Agent D" also inexplicably failed to pursue this computer-access issue with appropriate diligence. Despite having been advised by Craig that Wen-Ho Lee and the rest of the weapons division had not yet signed computer-monitoring waivers as part of the ongoing LANL training program -- but, implicitly, that they were expected to do so -- "Agent D" apparently never again consulted Craig about this issue. Moreover, though the purpose of requesting documentation from Craig was to provide FBI headquarters with the information necessary to support a determination as to whether FISA authority would be needed in this case, "Agent D" neglected to send headquarters the documents Craig gave him. According to "Agent D," he simply got distracted, and "got involved in many other things at the time. These failures were also potentially quite significant. To the extent that a subsequent waiver through the LANL training program could have been obtained, it might have (as described above) greatly affected later disputes over probable cause under FISA. Moreover, "Agent D's" apparent failure to forward Craig's computer training documentation to Washington also deprived the NSLU of any firm basis for its determination that FISA authority would be required. Even were no waiver to have existed, it is significant that LANL's computer policy assumed that the laboratory did have the right to monitor employees' computers at will for "waste, fraud, and abuse"; the documents provided "Agent D" by Craig were intended to convey the substance of this policy to the FBI. Because of "Agent D's" failure properly to inform his superiors, the NSLU was apparently never informed of this policy, and thus never given the chance to decide whether the ability of LANL to access these computers in order to prevent "abuse" also meant that the FBI could do so in order to prevent espionage or the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "... The FBI has conceded that it proceeded too slowly with its investigation, and perhaps should have requested FISA authority earlier, but in April 1997 -- prompted by Lee's request to his LANL superiors to hire a Chinese national as his research assistant -- the Bureau finally began preparing a formal FISA request. On June 5, 1997, the FBI's "Agent A" completed a "letterhead memorandum" (LHM) addressed to DOJ's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR), asking that office to submit to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) a request for a FISA surveillance warrant. For unexplained reasons -- and despite the fact that the FBI's field office had wanted a computer search in 1996 -- the Bureau did not request a computer search in this application; it merely requested other types of surveillance.

On June 30, the FBI sent its completed FISA request to OIPR. After receiving the FBI's draft FISA request, OIPR reviewed it and drafted a proposed application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Allan Kornblum, then OIPR's Deputy Counsel for Intelligence Operations -- the office within OIPR responsible for FISA matters -- received the letterhead memorandum and immediately recognized the huge national security importance of this case. Kornblum thought the case "important and urgent," and was "shocked to read about the loss of the nuclear weapon design [information]. * * * I was also shocked by the facts, the idea that this guy is making official trips to the PRC to meet with his counterparts in nuclear weapons design. I couldn't believe that. Spurred by these concerns, Kornblum quickly assigned the Lee case to David Ryan, a line attorney in his office, who prepared a draft application to the FISC over the Independence Day holiday weekend. Kornblum reviewed Ryan's draft application, and "found it wanting."It would be necessary, he felt, to consult further with the FBI "in order to complete the application and send it forward." Kornblum annotated Ryan's draft with his questions and comments. A series of discussions then ensued, both within OIPR and with FBI agents knowledgeable about the case, and two further draft FISA applications were prepared as the FBI added additional information in response to Kornblum's queries. (Only drafts one and three can presently be found, however.) As described below, OIPR attorneys and the FBI agents held their final 1997 meeting on this subject in August. As Allan Kornblum recalls, "Following that meeting, the case was put back to the Bureau to further the investigation in order to flesh out and eliminate some of the inconsistencies, to flesh out some of the things that had not been done * * *." OIPR would not hear back from the FBI for nearly a year and a half.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "... Viewed together, in the "totality of the circumstances," the FBI believed that this information [probable cause on Wen-Ho and Sylvia Lee] amounted to "probable cause" that Wen-Ho Lee and his wife Sylvia were "agents of a foreign power" such that approval for electronic surveillance was authorized under FISA. OIPR, however, viewed the evidence against the Lees differently. OIPR argued that the information from the FBI's 1982-84 investigation of Lee and the FBI's more recent, separate investigative lead, in particular, was not "current" enough to satisfy the statutory definition of an agent of a foreign power as someone who "engages in" intelligence activities -- i.e., one who is currently involved in such things. OIPR officials argued that the FBI had "not sufficiently demonstrated a connection" between Lee and the compromise of the W-88 information, and that "all of the most interesting things that would qualify him for coverage were too distant in time."

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Most importantly, however, OIPR viewed the FBI's case as being flawed from the outset, and "the central reason" for that, OIPR Attorney Allan Kornblum explained, "had to do with the fact that the DOE and Bureau had [multiple] suspects, and only two were investigated. * * * That is the principal flaw which ha[d] repercussions like dominoes throughout all of the other probable cause." When asked why, given the seriousness of the case, they did not simply ask the FISA Court itself to decide whether these elements amounted to probable cause, OIPR attorneys offered two answers. First, Kornblum explained, OIPR believed that the FBI was still working on the issue and would return with more information for the FISA application. "When we broke off discussions in '97," he said, "I fully expected the Bureau to come back." Second, and more broadly, it was OIPR's position, in dealing with FISA matters, that the Department of Justice should be essentially certain that there is probable cause before forwarding a FISA application to the court. According to OIPR attorneys, the statute's requirement that the Attorney General find that the requirements of the statute have been met imposes a legal and ethical obligation upon them to make the determination of probable cause themselves. OIPR, however, was far from certain: the acting head of OIPR, Gerald Schroeder, felt that the evidence did not show probable cause and did not even make "a close case."

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Accordingly, on August 12, 1997, Allan Kornblum headed a meeting between OIPR and FBI officials at which the application was discussed, and he recounted OIPR's objections. (FBI official "Agent A" took notes at this meeting; this is apparently the only written record of OIPR's denial.) On August 14, John Lewis, then chief of the FBI's National Security Division, sent a memorandum to FBI Director Louis Freeh. In this memorandum, Lewis recounted to Freeh that he had turned in the Wen-Ho Lee FISA application earlier than anticipated -- and without as much supporting information as he would have liked. He advised Freeh that OIPR had found it inadequate. In Lewis' view, Congress had created the FISA court precisely in order to enable it -- rather than OIPR -- to decide close cases. OIPR attorneys are reluctant to describe their disposition of the matter as a "denial" or "turndown," but it is evident that the FBI took it as such. As one FBI official put it, "I think if you were to ask the FBI our impression was that we were not successful, we were turned down in our efforts to get a FISA [warrant]. * * * We didn't get it. We were turned down."

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...It is also evident that after not hearing back from the FBI for some time, OIPR effectively also concluded that the matter was over, for when Ryan's file cabinet and the computer diskette upon which he had stored his draft Wen-Ho Lee FISA applications both became full, he destroyed these records in order to make space for new materials. (At the time, OIPR had no record-keeping policy regarding cases that were not sent to the FISA court for approval; the only documents that remain from this process were kept by the FBI.) That the FBI viewed OIPR's assessment as a refusal is also apparent from the Bureau's subsequent -- and unprecedented -- decision to appeal the matter to the Attorney General. On August 20, DOJ and DOE officials met at the Justice Department to discuss security issues at DOE. Officials present included Attorney General Reno, Deputy Attorney General Holder, and DOE's intelligence chief, Notra Trulock. After this meeting, the head of FBI's National Security Division, John Lewis, mentioned to the Attorney General that the FBI had sought a FISA warrant in the Wen-Ho Lee case, but that "we've been turned down by OIPR. (Attorney General Reno has said that she does not recall the conversation, but does not deny that it occurred.)

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...According to Lewis, she told Kornblum to "[r]evisit it, and I'm going to have either [Daniel] Seikaly [of DOJ's Executive Office for National Security (EONS) within the Deputy Attorney General's office] or the Deputy [Attorney General Eric Holder] review it" The FBI's Stephen Dillard, who also attended the August 20 meeting, thereupon discussed the FISA denial with OIPR Acting Counsel Schroeder and Deputy Counsel Allan Kornblum. At or after the August 20 meeting, Seikaly was asked to review the Wen-Ho Lee FISA matter. Seikaly told the Committee that he does not recall who asked him to do this, but when reviewing this Statement prior to its declassification, OIPR's Allan Kornblum "recalled that * * * Mr. Seikaly [told him] that the Attorney General had asked Mr. Seikaly to review the matter." Seikaly met with Kornblum to discuss the FBI's evidence of probable cause; they talked about this matter at least once

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Though he had been asked to undertake a review of OIPR's legal judgment in this enormously important case, Seikaly had no experience with FISA matters and had never worked on a FISA issue before (although national security was his field of expertise). "[T]his was -- in my experience at least, a singular event. I had never done it before or since. * * * I am not a FISA expert." After his consultations with Kornblum, however, Seikaly soon agreed with OIPR that the FBI had failed to demonstrate probable cause. Seikaly apparently did not consult with the FBI. In late August or early September 1997, Seikaly communicated his decision to the FBI through Allan Kornblum. Though he had apparently been specifically requested to deal with this important matter, Seikaly says he did not report his disposition of this matter to his supervisor, the Deputy Attorney General, or to the Attorney General herself.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...The FBI's action in raising the Wen-Ho Lee FISA issue directly with the Attorney General -- as well as the involvement of the Deputy Attorney General's office in adjudicating this intra-Departmental "appeal" -- was apparently unprecedented. Every approval of a FISA surveillance or search request made by OIPR necessarily involves the Attorney General, since her certification is required on the application submitted to the FISC. The denial of a FISA request by OIPR, however -- itself an extremely rare occurrence -- had never before been thus appealed. Similarly, while it was not uncommon for the Deputy's office (though obviously not Seikaly) to become involved in helping assess FISA requests where OIPR recommended approval but the Attorney General still harbored doubts, non-approvals had never before been thus addressed.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...In the summer of 1998, the FBI endeavored to revive its stalled investigation. The Bureau undertook additional, proactive investigative steps. While not dispositive of Wen-Ho Lee's status as an agent of a foreign power, these additional steps did yield additional information that OIPR attorneys would have considered relevant to a determination of probable cause for FISA surveillance. Nevertheless, the FBI's "Agent A" did not mention the FBI's additional investigative steps to OIPR for four months, and when he did, he failed to recount vital details relevant to a probable cause determination -- details relating to Lee's failure to make full disclosure of a certain significant matter.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Indeed, the FBI's only effort to inform OIPR of the results of these additional investigative steps took the form of an unscheduled meeting that occurred when "Agent A" dropped by Ryan's office at the Department of Justice on December 22, 1998. At this meeting, they briefly reviewed "the prior application and the reasons for its declination," and "Agent A" "advised Dave of the FBI's most recent steps and their results." The "results" that "Agent A" recounted, however, were only the bare fact that the investigative steps had not yielded a positive result. He did not tell Ryan about the additional details relating to Lee's failure to make full disclosure that could have affected OIPR's prior determination.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...By this point, officials at OIPR had become aware of additional information bearing upon the W-88 issue at Los Alamos. In November 1998, the National Counterintelligence Center (NCIC) distributed a report assessing the Chinese espionage threat to the Energy Department's laboratories. This report highlighted the efforts of Chinese intelligence to target these Energy facilities and amplified upon many of the issues (e.g., particular aspects of Beijing's intelligence practices) raised in the draft FISA applications prepared by the FBI and OIPR in the summer of 1997. The new head of OIPR, Frances Townsend, received this report in November or December 1998, and she used it to help prepare the Attorney General for a meeting with Energy Secretary William Richardson. OIPR attorney Allan Kornblum also saw the report in or around March 1999.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Armed with this new information -- the failed polygraph of February 10 and the new discoveries regarding Lee's computer -- the FBI returned to OIPR for a final attempt to obtain FISA authority. At this point, however, the focus of the FBI's efforts was upon searching the Lees' home, and the FBI simultaneously pursued two avenues of approach: (a) the possibility of FISA search authority, and (b) the possibility of a criminal search warrant under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. In the first few days of April 1999, a draft Rule 41 criminal search warrant was circulated among prosecutors in both the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in Washington and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albuquerque. To the FBI's frustration, the Criminal Division prosecutors concluded that the draft contained an insufficient showing of probable cause to search Lee's residence. This conclusion led the FBI to begin working with an assistant U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque to craft a second affidavit -- as well as to initiate an additional round of FISA discussions with OIPR.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...In a conference call with FBI agents from Headquarters and from Albuquerque, prosecutors from the Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office discussed strategies to bolster the showing of probable cause. Shortly thereafter, the FBI added additional facts to the draft Rule 41 affidavit it had circulated, and this affidavit was reviewed and approved by the Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The revised affidavit was presented to a U.S. Magistrate Judge on April 9, 1999; the Rule 41 criminal search warrant against Wen-Ho Lee was executed without incident the following day.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...As noted, however, before the FBI finally went to the District Court for this Rule 41 warrant, it tried once more to persuade OIPR that there was ample reason to obtain a FISA warrant against Wen-Ho and Sylvia Lee. On April 7, FBI officials met with OIPR attorneys to discuss this matter. The FBI recounted the new information about Wen-Ho Lee. As memorialized in notes taken by OIPR's new Deputy Counsel for Intelligence Operations, James Baker -- and in an "action memorandum" to OIPR drafted the next day by the FBI General Counsel's office (though apparently never sent) -- FBI officials also told OIPR that FBI Director Louis Freeh preferred to use FISA authority to search the Lees' house. According to these FBI representations, Freeh was prepared formally to supply the necessary certifications that this search met the requirements of the FISA statute -- that is, that it was being sought for purposes of intelligence collection (e.g., to learn about Lee's alleged contacts with Chinese intelligence). The FBI's General Counsel has confirmed that Director Freeh was indeed "prepared [to make this certification] if we were going to go that route."

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...At this April 7 meeting, OIPR attorneys raised their old concerns with the "currency" and sufficiency of the evidence against Lee, but also raised two new issues. First, they expressed concern that -- particularly in light of the negative reaction from ISS with regard to the Rule 41 idea -- there might be the "appearance" that FBI was improperly using the FISA process as a proxy for criminal search authority. Second, OIPR expressed concern about the prospect of conducting an unprecedented overt FISA search. Now that Lee had been fired from his Los Alamos job, he and his wife remained at home most of the time -- leaving little opportunity for a clandestine search of their house. A FISA search, therefore, would have to be conducted in broad daylight and with the Lees' knowledge. This had never been done before, and OIPR attorneys expressed serious practical and legal reservations. These issues were not resolved at the April 7 meeting.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...Though, as noted above, the FBI did prepare a draft "action memorandum" to OIPR on April 8 requesting FISA search authority for the Lee house, the Bureau did not return to OIPR on this subject and never sent the memorandum. FBI officials have said that this final loss of interest in the FISA route was simply because the Bureau chose to obtain a Rule 41 criminal warrant in Albuquerque -- as indeed occurred on April 9, 1999.

http://www.senate.gov/~thompson/wen-ho.html 8/6/99 Senator Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman "...The real reason that the FBI filed the Rule 41 warrant affidavit in Albuquerque on April 9 and abandoned its FISA approach, however, may be related to contacts on April 7 or 8 between OIPR Counsel Frances Fragos Townsend and the FBI. According to handwritten notes taken by the FBI's "Agent A," an NSLU attorney was told by NSLU's chief that "the FISA search warrant is not going forward" because "F.F. Townsend called and said it was way too criminal." Townsend has denied saying this specifically to FBI General Counsel Parkinson, but she did admit talking with him about the Lee case and did not specifically deny conveying such a message to his office or to NSLU. With the issuance of a criminal warrant on April 9 and the search of Lee's house on April 10, the Wen-Ho Lee espionage investigation moved into its criminal phase, which at the time of writing was still ongoing.

O'Reilly Factor 8/5/99 Dan Burton Freepe go star go "...O'Reilly was interviewing Dan Burton and O'Reilly asked Burton if he found obstruction by Reno caould he refer it to the next Attorney General. Burton said that he didn't know if Reno was paying attention but that if he did find obstruction then he would in fact refer it to the new Attorney General in the next administration. Unless, Burton says, Clinton pardons himself, Reno and a whole host of others...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...FIRST. I am well aware that the Department obstructed investigations prior to my tenure as Chairman of the Government Reform Committee. At the beginning of the Clinton Administration, the de facto head of the Justice Department, Webster Hubbell, had boxes of Whitewater evidence in his basement while his staff was trying to decide what to do with criminal referrals that depended on the very evidence that Hubbell was withholding. When Michael Dukakis said that a fish rots from the head down, he must have had Janet Reno's Justice Department in mind...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...SECOND. Throughout Chairman Clinger's tenure, the Justice Department repeatedly stonewalled him. The Travelgate investigation was maintained as an "open" case even after a criminal trial completely exonerated Travel Office Director Billy Dale. These delays needlessly hampered Chairman Clinger's efforts. In fact, that is a recurring pattern the Department keeps investigations open long after it has stopped doing any work, and then tells Congress that it can't cooperate because the investigation is ongoing...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...THIRD. When Chuck La Bella and Louis Freeh recommended the appointment of an Independent Counsel, Janet Reno took the political low road. She sided with her boss and her party. To this day I imagine that she doesn't even care about the damage that decision has caused to the Department's reputation. I have read parts of the Freeh and La Bella memos, and I can tell you that what they said was really troubling. Janet Reno's political staff was using a higher threshold for senior White House political staff than for other citizens. This is what LaBella said: "The task Force has commenced criminal investigations of non-covered persons based only on a wisp of information." He continued by noting that the threshold was much higher for Clinton Administration political appointees. It is also clear that investigations would have commenced much earlier if the people under scrutiny were not White House officials. Again, here is what LaBella said: If these allegations involved anyone other than _______, an appropriate investigation would have commenced months ago without hesitation.".... In addition, the Department went through legal contortions to avoid moving forward on investigating those at the highest levels. Again, here is what LaBella actually said in his memo: "The contortions that the Department has gone through to avoid investigating these allegations are apparent." As I've said before, I am deeply troubled by the use of double standards, with the political colleagues of the Attorney General getting the benefit of the more lenient standard. Let's not beat around the bush here. Taken as a whole, these are allegations of corruption. When you fail to investigate members of your own political party, or when you apply different standards to Administration officials than to other citizens, and when you go through contortions to avoid investigating members of your party, you are behaving corruptly. La Bella and Freeh concluded that an Independent Counsel was necessary. In return, Attorney General Reno's political staff overruled and belittled them. Even though all agreed he was the most qualified candidate, Chuck LaBella was even denied the U.S. Attorney position in San Diego...." Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...FOURTH. Speaking of corruption, over a year ago, we gave information to the Justice Department about a friend of the Attorney General. This information alleges that the Attorney General's friend illegally obtained sensitive, classified information from the Justice Department. According to information received by the Committee, this friend of the Attorney General even suggested paying money to a Justice Department employee who helped obtain some of the illegal information. One document we have says that the person the author talked to "confirmed that Steel Hector was hired due to the relationship with the Attorney General." Steel Hector is a big Miami law firm where Attorney General Reno once worked. The memo goes on to point out that Reno and the sister of the lawyer hired are "good friends." Other documents indicate that the Department changed a policy related to release of information so that this person could help her client. This policy change, according to one memo obtained by the Committee was made personally by the Attorney General. Still another document talks about a "confidential and reliable source" within the Justice Department. And still another memo obtained by the Committee states that the confidential source within the Department would not come forward publicly "due to her pension may be at risk if she was exposed. She added an offer may have been made as to severance pay by the client if that resulted." The "she" here is the lawyer who is friends with the Attorney General. Janet Reno has steadfastly refused to investigate her friend. Again, this is corruption.

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...FIFTH. On a related note, Janet Reno's political appointees dropped the ball completely when it came to prosecuting a Democratic fundraiser who raised illegal campaign money in Venezuela. To make matters worse, her political appointees have interfered with our investigation of this matter. Last winter, we asked the Justice Department to provide information for this investigation on DEA policies relating to computer access. For six months, a Justice Department official refused to provide this information, claiming the DEA would not provide it to him. Just two days ago, we found out that the DEA had never been informed that the Committee wanted this information. As soon as the DEA found out about the Committee's request, they worked to give us an answer. But in the meantime, the Justice Department kept the Committee from finding out critical information for six months...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...SIXTH. Let's talk about the Department's handling of the Charlie Trie investigation. Campaign Task Force investigators knew that Trie's bookkeeper was destroying documents relating to Trie. They asked for a search warrant. FBI agents were even sent to Little Rock to execute the search warrant. Janet Reno's handpicked political advisers turned down the request. Months went by before the search took place..."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...SEVENTH. Speaking of Charlie Trie, it is impossible to leave out the slap on the wrist that the Justice Department has agreed to give both Charlie Trie and John Huang. The Department has promised them no prison time at all maybe some community service, but no prison time. The Justice Department even promised to give John Huang back his voting rights. When U.S. Attorneys outside of Washington, D.C. have prosecuted conduit contributors recently they have managed to get prison time or, at the very least, home incarceration. Why the kid gloves treatment for Presidential friends Huang and Trie? ..."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...EIGHTH. I also wonder what happened to the Attorney General's promised investigation of leaks within the Department. I have yet to hear her condemn those of her employees who leaked material damaging to the campaign finance investigation. I intend to ask for all records relating to these so-called investigations. When the White House accused Independent Counsel Starr of leaks, the Justice Department went to work investigating vigorously. When the Attorney General's political people run interference for the Administration, the Department is noticeably silent. This Justice Department investigates if there is political benefit, but it is silent when real crimes have been committed...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...NINTH. Turning to national security, it was the Attorney General's political staff who reviewed search warrant requests for records at Los Alamos. It appears that her political people weren't really all that concerned with national security. The FBI tried to get permission for wiretaps of Wen Ho Lee three times...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...TENTH. One of the greatest hurdles facing the Committee is the routine failure by the Department to produce documents in a timely manner. Earlier I mentioned a specific example involving DEA documents. The excuses are endless. And the Department hides behind legally unsupportable readings of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. At all times, the Department has behaved as though it was defense counsel for the President, and not a servant of the Constitution and the American people..."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...ELEVENTH. When law and politics collide, the political appointees at the Justice Department seem to ignore the law. Take for instance an anecdote from the recent Bob Woodward book. In May of 1996, White House Counsel Jack Quinn was voted in contempt of Congress by my Committee for failure to turn over subpoenaed documents. This is what Mr. Woodward says in his book: "Quinn was confident he wouldn't be sent to jail. Lawyers in the Justice Department had assured him they would not prosecute even if the full House of Representatives cited him for contempt.". .."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...TWELFTH. In August 1998, Committee investigators interviewed Jack Ho. Jack Ho helped one of Charlie Trie's associates funnel $25,000 in foreign money to the DNC. In the course of interviewing Ho, Committee staff learned that Ho had never been contacted by the Justice Department. After the Committee informed the Justice Department of Ho's existence, the Department scrambled to interview him. Mr. Ho later told the Committee that in the course of his Justice Department interview, investigators told him that he did not have to cooperate with the Committee..."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Rep Dan Burton "...THIRTEENTH. When we asked to talk to lawyers at the Department who could shed some light on why the Attorney General's advisers decided to let the statute of limitations expire on Florida fundraiser Charles Intriago, we were given a stiff arm. Five years ago, when Democratic Chairman Dingell wanted to talk to the same types of lawyers, he was given full access...."

Associated Press 8/10/99 Laurie Asseo "...Attorney General Janet Reno on Tuesday suggested providing courts with more resources to keep defendants from committing new crimes. If a former inmate has no job and no high school diploma, ``Guess what? They're going to be doing it again,'' the attorney general told members of the American Bar Association, the nation's largest lawyers' group. .... The attorney general noted the success of drug courts during her tenure as a Miami prosecutor, a concept now being used in many cities. Such courts focus on giving defendants treatment and incentives to not repeat their crimes. Similar courts could be created to concentrate on domestic violence or child abuse and neglect cases, she said. She also suggested the use of ``re-entry courts'' for inmates being released...."

AP 8/10/99 "...When it comes to discussing Attorney General Janet Reno, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr may have mastered the art of saying a lot without saying anything. Interviewed on NBC's "Today'' program, Starr, who has spent five years investigating President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, was asked about his feelings for Reno. Question: "Do you think that the attorney general has conducted herself properly during all this?'' Answer: "I don't want to comment.'' Q: "Some have said that she has protected the president.'' A: "I don't want to comment. Let me say this, I believe that the career people at the Justice Department are honorable, decent people. We have a very, and have enjoyed a very good relationship with them over the past five years.'' Q: "So you won't say the same thing about the attorney general.'' A: "I'm not going to comment.'' ..."

New York Times 8/13/99 "....Not everyone may agree with the reported decision to clear Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in a case that grew out of the 1996 campaign finance abuses. But at least the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to indict Mr. Babbitt or Harold Ickes, one of President Clinton's top campaign operatives, was made by an impartial, independent prosecutor. Unfortunately, that was not so for other abuses in Bill Clinton's re-election campaign. A serious failure of this Administration was the stubborn and misguided refusal of Attorney General Janet Reno to allow any other independent counsel to investigate the array of sordid campaign practices, especially the donations from foreign sources..... Both Louis Freeh, the F.B.I. Director, and Charles La Bella, former head of the campaign fund-raising inquiry, urged Ms. Reno to appoint an independent counsel to oversee the investigation of other aspects of the fund-raising mess. Because she rejected their advice, Americans can never be confident that every lead was followed in examining Vice President Gore's fund-raising phone calls from the White House and the evidence of a conspiracy by Mr. Clinton and others to evade campaign laws by using "soft money" to finance a Democratic Party advertising campaign. Even worse is the broken trail of leads regarding the foreign money funneled into the campaign by John Huang, Charlie Trie and others who have admitted to violating the law. They have apparently not implicated any senior people in the White House or the campaign, and Representative Dan Burton has failed so far to get Mr. Huang and Mr. Trie to testify before his committee in the House...."

New York Times 8/12/99 Abraham Foxman "...In the late 1980's violence by neo-Nazi skinheads was on the rise across America. At a meeting with Richard Thornburgh, then the Attorney General, we urged the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to place the skinheads on the F.B.I. watch list -- to monitor their activities and vigorously apply the law. The Attorney General did just that, and as a result violence by neo-Nazi skinheads declined significantly. Fast-forward to this past July 4 weekend, when Benjamin Smith, who had been linked to the white supremacist, anti-Semitic World Church of the Creator, went on a shooting rampage, wounding six Jews coming home from Sabbath services and killing an African-American and an Asian before committing suicide. The Anti-Defamation League and other organizations knew about this group -- we monitored its activities and Web site, sought to expose it in the news media. After the July 4 rampage, again we went to the Attorney General, this time Janet Reno, and asked that a full field investigation be initiated in keeping with the Attorney General's "Guidelines on Domestic Security/Terrorism Investigations." We believe we had documented examples of violence and criminal activity perpetrated by members of the World Church. I believe that if Ms. Reno was not restricted by certain legal parameters put in place since the Thornburgh era, she would have acted immediately. Instead, she said she had to "review whether the group itself was tied to individual acts." Mr. Smith's activities on behalf of the World Church of the Creator, while public and abhorrent, were protected by the First Amendment, irrespective of his shooting rampage. Now, in the shootings this week at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles, we have the worst act of anti-Semitic violence since the killing of Yankel Rosenbaum in Crown Heights eight years ago, and we have a suspect with clear ties to known hate groups. The suspect, Buford Furrow Jr., who turned himself in yesterday, had spent considerable time at a compound of the Aryan Nations, authorities say, and he may have aspired to the Phineas Priesthood, to which one gains "membership" by committing violence against nonwhites. Once again, the information we're getting about the suspect is coming largely from private groups. This doesn't mean that the F.B.I. has not been tracking these hate groups. But the Justice Department and the bureau are so hamstrung -- by the unpleasant legacy of the Hoover years, by fears of suits from the American Civil Liberties Union, by complaints from conservative lawmakers about avoiding another Randy Weaver fiasco -- that they can't act aggressively....."

New York Post 8/12/99 Steve Dunleavy "...SINCE the big daddies of hate - the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Liberation Army - are drawing Social Security checks, you might think their venom has been transferred to walkers. The truth is since those big daddies of hate have dissipated into the Viagra age, there has spawned a great family - Sons of Hate - and what an attractive brew they are. There are Aryan Nations, The Aryan Brotherhood and The National Alliance, whose leader, William Pierce, wrote the "Turner Diaries." Now, that is a tidy little handbook of hate. And then there is World Church of the Creator. Man, do they hate Christians like me. One of their passionate members went and killed a black and a Korean in Chicago on July 3 and 4. What a hero. Of course there is the Skinhead Movement, The Posse Comitados, who call all non-whites "Mud People." Charming. And don't let's forget our old friends in The American Nazi Party. The misfit who triggered Tuesday's ugliness in Granada Hills, Buford O'Neal Furrow, 37, was reportedly in Aryan Nations and its more active offshoot Order, another highly-resistible group..... So if you were in New York and wanted to join a hate group in Idaho, you would have to read an out-of-town newspaper, write letters, make telephone calls and virtually expose your identity, otherwise how can anyone get back to you without a name and address? But voila. The Internet. "Today, cyberhate can come right into your living room, right into your kids room and you can be anonymous, your neighbor or the local police don't know who you are."...."

The Dallas Morning News 8/10/99 Lee Hancock "...A federal judge in Waco told the federal government Monday to hand over every piece of evidence relating to the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff. In a sweeping order, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith told federal authorities to surrender to the federal clerk in Waco everything "in any way relevant to the events occurring at Mount Carmel," the Davidian compound besieged by federal authorities from Feb. 28 to April l9, 1993. "It is important for two reasons that the materials be maintained and safeguarded. First and foremost, the parties to civil litigation pending in this court have a right to seek access," Judge Smith wrote. "Second, the events that took place between Feb. 28 and April 19, 1993, and thereafter, have resulted in sometimes intense interest from the national media and members of the public." ..... The officials have said repeatedly in sworn testimony that FBI agents did not fire a single shot during the entire 51-day siege and used nothing capable of starting a fire. Government officials have noted that arson investigators ruled that the fire was set by sect members, and federal actions were exhaustively examined in weeks of congressional hearings, an independent U.S. Treasury Department review and an internal evaluation by the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI. Michael Caddell of Houston, one of the lead lawyers representing the Branch Davidians, praised the judge's order as a first step toward full disclosure of the government's actions. "I do think that for the American people to feel that justice has been done in this case, it's important that they feel there has been complete disclosure," he said. "That has not happened. There's been a complete stonewall by the government. "I don't think that people realize this lawsuit was filed five years ago and the government hasn't filed an answer yet. They have tied this up with procedural gimmickry. ... When you play games and obfuscate, people think you must have something to hide." ...."The Justice Department's going to have a fit," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. "This is an unfathomable amount of material." The FBI alone will have to turn over tens of thousands of documents. An agency official recently reported that more than 17,000 pages of documents had been compiled by the FBI's San Antonio office alone, where the chief agent supervised the standoff. A major portion of the evidence will come from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The state agency's lawyers precipitated the judge's action by filing a motion several weeks ago asking him to take control of the evidence it has stored since the Texas Rangers were asked to investigate the standoff. The Texas Rangers were named special deputy U.S. marshals and brought in to investigate within days after the shootout that started the standoff. Four agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms died on Feb. 28 when a gunfight erupted as they tried to serve search and arrest warrants on the Branch Davidian compound....Mr. McNulty researched and helped produce a 1997 film harshly critical of government actions in Waco, and he has worked as a private investigator for the Branch Davidians' lawyers. He is completing a second film on the incident due for September release that will include footage he obtained during his visits to DPS evidence lockers. Among the evidence that Mr. McNulty has spotlighted are two 40 mm projectiles and a 40 mm shell casing found in the compound wreckage. He said explosives experts retained by his film's producer to test chemical residues from the devices recently reported preliminary findings that they were pyrotechnic. The Rangers recently opened an inquiry to determine the nature of the 40 mm munitions and other items that Mr. McNulty found mislabeled in their evidence locker...."

Judicial Watch 8/13/99 Larry Klayman "...Yesterday, in what has now become a routine with the corrupt Clinton Justice Department, John Huang, who even Bob Woodward and The Washington Post called a likely Communist Chinese spy, entered into a plea agreement, in which he gets off "scott free," with only a $10,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. Huang was uncovered in the fall of 1996, and when he ran from U.S. Marshals trying to serve him with a subpoena in the Judicial Watch case which sparked the Chinagate scandal, his story rose to national prominence. Later, he would testify to Judicial Watch, untruthfully. When Judicial Watch moved the Court to have Huang testify again, and it so ordered, he invoked the Fifth Amendment over 1000 times, leading the widely respected liberal journalist Christopher Hitchens to remark that Huang had established a "new indoor record." As was true with Huang, thus far the Clinton Justice Department has indicted primarily Chinese, Indonesians, African Americans, and Indians in the Chinagate scandal, to create the appearance of justice. However, they have all been plead out with little to no jail time, with no real commitment to implicate other, high up Clinton-Gore officials. "The Clinton Justice Department is effectively playing the race card, by blaming just a bunch of foreigners and minorities, but not holding them accountable in any event for fear they might implicate the corrupt 'white men in the White House,'" stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. "Judicial Watch will not allow justice to be compromised, and will now ask the Court to bring Huang back again for testimony, as he can no longer even claim that the Fifth Amendment is applicable," added Klayman and Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. ..."

Washington Post 8/13/99 Vernon Loeb "...Attempting to bring an end to the Chinese espionage scandal that has plagued his department for months, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson yesterday recommended disciplinary action against two former counterintelligence officials and the former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Richardson's announcement came as he released the findings of a sharply critical report by the Department of Energy's own inspector general and issued a statement acknowledging that both "political and career management" failed to pay enough attention to security. As a result of "systemic" management lapses, the inspector general concluded, the government's chief espionage suspect, former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, was able to keep his security clearance and sensitive work assignment for at least 18 months longer than necessary..... Richardson declined to name the three officials he recommended for disciplinary action and said it would be up to Los Alamos Director John C. Browne to determine the proper punishment, which could range from letters of reprimand to dismissal. But officials familiar with Richardson's recommendation identified the three as Sig Hecker, who served as Los Alamos's director from January 1986 to October 1997 and still works as a senior scientist at the facility; Robert S. Vrooman, the lab's former counterintelligence chief, who is now retired and serves as a part-time consultant to a lab subcontractor; and Terry Craig, a former counterintelligence team leader now working in another section of the lab...... Senior Energy Department officials also said that former Energy Secretary Federico Pena and two former deputy secretaries, Elizabeth A. Moler and Victor H. Reis, might have been subject to disciplinary action for failing to adequately pursue espionage allegations, if they were still employed by the department. However, the Energy Department's inspector general, Gregory Friedman, determined that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a charge by Notra Trulock, the DOE counterintelligence official who targeted Lee as a suspect, that Moler tried to prevent Trulock from testifying to Congress...."

Capitil Hill Blue 8/13/99 Dan Thomasson "...If one were inclined to believe in government conspiracies, the failure of the FBI and the Justice Department to properly investigate the loss of U.S. nuclear technology to the Chinese would be an excellent candidate. As Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, put it, there is enough blame to go around in the "poor handling" of what may turn out to be the biggest case of successful espionage ever perpetrated against this country. Not just a "comedy of errors but a tragedy of errors," echoed Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the committee's ranking minority member, all the while shaking off the conspiracy theory. In fact, the bungling among the FBI, the Justice Department and the Energy Department may be every bit as historic in its dimensions as the stealing of our nuclear warhead design. Oddly, in 13 hours of closed-door hearings, the committee failed to find out why all the ineptitude by the nation's key counterintelligence agency and its bosses. How, then, one must ask, could there be such monumental missteps unless they were deliberate? Two possibilities come to mind...."

Washintgon Post 8/13/99 Edward Walsh "... John Huang, a central figure in the more than two-year-old investigation of campaign fund-raising abuses during the 1996 election, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission as part of a plea agreement reached earlier with federal prosecutors. Appearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Huang was sentenced to one year's probation, a $10,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. A condition of the probation is that Huang will continue to cooperate with government investigators, prosecutors said. Huang, a former official of the Commerce Department and the Democratic National Committee, helped generate about $2 million in 1996 contributions that the DNC ultimately returned because the funds came from illegal or suspect sources. But in hours of interviews with government investigators, Huang never provided evidence linking other White House and Democratic Party officials to criminal activity. The conspiracy charge to which Huang pleaded guilty did not involve the 1996 campaign but rather contributions to Democratic campaigns in California in 1993 and 1994....."

Inside the Beltway (Washington Times) 8/16/99 John McCaslin "...Let's duck into the bowels of the Justice Department, to the basement floor and "Document Design Unit," where we see a large four-color story board designed for a news conference that apparently never was. "It's been laying against the wall since early June," a Justice Department official says. "They prepare this thing, ready to have a media [event], but then they don't use it." It's a money-flow chart, related to Vice President Al Gore's fund-raising event at a Buddhist temple. It shows with criss-crossing arrows how seven Asian individuals wrote checks for the amount of $25,000 each and how the money wound up at the Democratic National Committee. If Justice has no use for the big flow chart, Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, might want to use it for his probe into the campaign finance abuses.... Published reports say a federal prosecutor in California was ordered to halt the probe he began in 1996 into Mr. Gore's fund-raising event at the Buddhist temple. The prosecutor is said to have been told it was a matter for an independent counsel -- the one never named by Miss Reno...."

http://www.infowars.com/bill_s1059_sec1084.htm 8/18/99 Senate Bill 1059 "…S.1059 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Print) …SEC. 1084. CHEMICAL AGENTS USED FOR DEFENSIVE TRAINING. (a) AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER AGENTS- (1) The Secretary of Defense may transfer to the Attorney General, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, quantities of lethal chemical agents required to support training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Fort McClellan, Alabama. The quantity of lethal chemical agents transferred under this section may not exceed that required to support training for emergency first-response personnel in addressing the health, safety, and law enforcement concerns associated with potential terrorist incidents that might involve the use of lethal chemical weapons or agents, or other training designated by the Attorney General. (2) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine the amount of lethal chemical agents that shall be transferred under this section. Such amount shall be transferred from quantities of lethal chemical agents that are produced, acquired, or retained by the Department of Defense…."

Wall St. Journal 8/19/99 Editorial "…Rejections of FISA requests are rare. As to probable cause, an August 5 report by Senators Fred Thompson and Joseph Lieberman lists the FBI's suspicions about the Lees across 18 paragraphs, including: "The FBI learned that during a visit to Los Alamos by (Chinese) scientists from IAPCM, Lee had discussed certain unclassified (but weapons-related) computer codes with the Chinese delegation. It was reported that Lee had helped the Chinese scientists with their codes by providing software and calculations relating to hydrodynamics." A congressional source tells us that two additional reasons to monitor were dropped from the public report for security reasons. The FBI then made an unprecedented appeal of the denial to the Attorney General. After a meeting about security issues, the head of the FBI's National Security Division told Ms. Reno "we've been turned down" by her department. The Thompson report then states: "Attorney General Reno has said that she does not recall the conversation, but does not deny that it occurred." Nonetheless, another Justice attorney, Daniel Seikaly, ended up with the assignment of reviewing the original turndown, and weeks later concurred with the decision not to monitor the Lees. The turndown of this wiretap is at the heart of the Thompson-Lieberman report. Both criticized Justice's refusal…..Sen. Lieberman, noting various bureaucratic failures by the FBI along the way, concluded: "I ask why, given the extreme importance of this case to America's national security, [Justice] did not raise this issue to the Attorney General herself, push the FBI harder to make its case, or decide to send the request for a warrant to the court to make the final judgment Squaring this circle, Sen. Thompson said Justice "adopted a highly restrictive view of probable cause, even though the showing necessary in a national security context is less than for a criminal investigation." Another report by the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, led by former Sen. Warren Rudman, raised precisely the same issues regarding these decisions. Obviously there was a judgment call to be made here. And reasonable people might differ on the call. They might differ, that is, if Justice under Ms. Reno had not by now shown itself to come down routinely on the side of doing nothing or next to nothing in investigations of this sort. As in the campaign finance investigation of illegal foreign contributions to the President's reelection campaign.

Wall St. Journal 8/19/99 Editorial "…Consider the record. As with the Los Alamos case, clearly something illegal was taking place with the Chinese fundraising. But Ms. Reno rejected the advice of both Charles La Bella and Louis Freeh to turn these matters over to an independent counsel. The La Bella episode is especially illuminating. It would have been one thing if Ms. Reno had simply rejected Mr. La Bella's recommendation. But she and her aides went further, essentially trashing La Bella for his position and pushing him out of federal service. One might reasonably suspect that the lower-echelon lawyers, including those handling the Los Alamos decisions, knew better than to get on the wrong side of any Justice investigations involving China. Then, after giving "her people" full responsibility for this investigation, and after a few indictments, the result has been no jail time for anyone. Johnny Chung and John Huang got probation. Charlie Trie awaits sentencing…."

Wall St. Journal 8/19/99 Editorial "…And it is similarly clear that something happened at the Sept. 13, 1995, Oval Office meeting at which Bill Clinton, Bruce Lindsey, Joe Giroir and James Riady told a nobody named John Huang that he was moving from his Commerce Department job over to fund raising for the DNC. Absent a real inquiry into this crucial meeting's content, we're supposed to conclude that it was John Huang's idea to go all the way to China to break the contribution laws. In other words, it is at least clear to us that Bill Clinton and Janet Reno have inculcated the Department of Justice with a culture of nonfeasance. Nonfeasance is about not doing what duty requires. …Perhaps, for another year or so. It will then be the next President's job to remake Justice from a place of constant suspicion about motive to one of respect…."

Daily Republican 8/19/99 Howard Hobbs "…In 1997, the Department of Justice made allegations of False Claims Act violations in four jurisdictions against nearly 200 hospitals or clinics, even though it did not have sufficient evidence to back up those claims. According to the General Accounting Office this week, it's investigation found that DOJ probes in many cases in Texas and other areas were ultimately dropped because of insufficient evidence. The shocking facts are contained in a GAO Report ordered by Congress after hearings on complaints numerous last year by the health care industry after questions were raised about the lack of thhroughness of the Clinton administration's investigation of health care fraud. …"

The Washington Weekly 4/6/98 Michael Levine Laura Kavanau-Levine "…As an ex-DEA agent I found the complete lack of coverage by mainstream media of what I saw during last month's congressional hearings into CIA Drug Trafficking both depressing and frightening. I sat gape-mouthed as I heard the CIA Inspector General testify that there has existed a secret agreement between CIA and the Justice Department, wherein "during the years 1982 to 1995, CIA did not have to report the drug trafficking by its assets to the Justice Department." To a trained DEA agent this literally means that the CIA had been granted a license to obstruct justice in our so-called war on drugs; a license that lasted, so the CIA claims, from 1982 to 1995, a time during which Americans paid almost $150 billion in taxes to "fight" drugs….. This might also explain Janet Reno's recent and unprecedented move in blocking the release of a Justice Department investigation into CIA drug trafficking…..One of the most distressing things for me as a 25-year-veteran of this business to listen to was when Congresswoman Waters said that the hearings were not about CIA officers being indicted and going to jail. "That is not going to happen," she said. Almost in the same breath she spoke of a recent case in Miami wherein a Venezuelan National Guard general was caught by Customs agents smuggling more than a ton of cocaine into the US. Despite named CIA officers being involved in the plot, as Congresswoman Waters stated, the Justice Department will not tell her anything about the case because of "secrecy laws." No wonder chairman Goss was snickering. She could not have played more neatly into CIA hands than to surrender before the battle was engaged…"

http://www.mrc.org/news/cyberalert/1999/cyb19990730.html#4 7/30/99 "…Cameron honed in on Reno and how the FBI was afraid to share information because they knew the White House would get it: "Some Justice Department investigators suspect their bosses deliberately dropped the ball to protect the President, though the inspector general concluded it was poor judgment and not intentional. But congressional critics think Attorney General Janet Reno and her closest advisers were playing pure politics. And according to the report, when Reno's top troops wanted to share evidence with the White House, the FBI protested, even boycotted meetings, to prevent the handing over of such information, saying it was, quote, ‘akin to briefing the subject of an investigation about that investigation.’ Giving a clue about who is providing him with his information, Cameron observed: "Line-level investigators and prosecutors, disgruntled with the way Department of Justice management have handled, and some say botched, this entire case, almost daily now are disclosing more information. Last night Fox reported on how the initial investigation into the Buddhist temple fundraising event was thwarted by the attorney general's office. In fact, one specific individual, the head of the Office of Public Integrity, Lee Radek, has essentially been fingered as trying to close down that investigation. And as a result, Congress plans to subpoena Mr. Radek's documents to find out whether or not he tried in some way to close things down in order to protect the President." …."

NewsMax.com 8/16/99 "…Chung also revealed that the FBI and DOJ had him tape conversations with a Chinese National nicknamed "Fish Powder" who was an important contact person between the Chinese Government and Chung: O'REILLY: So what you're saying is that after you were caught and after all the heat came down on Johnny Chung, you were honest, you told the investigators -- Chuck LaBella, the FBI agents -- just as you're telling me today, what happened, here's what happened. But in Washington Janet Reno's staff sat on it and didn't do anything with it. Is that accurate? CHUNG: That's very accurate. I can say that in my part I told them everything I know in this ongoing investigation, and I didn't see any of them is really come out to the light yet. For example, I have the agreement with the Department of Justice, I'm not going to mention the name, but we gave him a nickname, we call Fish Powder. O'REILLY: Fish Powder? CHUNG: Yes. We gave a nickname. And this gentlemen of Fish Powders, he is very important witness and my prosecutors put him on watch list of the immigration office. Any time he comes to the United States, they want to question him. O'REILLY: Is he a Chinese national? CHUNG: That's correct. O'REILLY: And what happened is this guy call me out of the blue. And my prosecutor doesn't know that. The FBI who protect me doesn't know that. And then I was instructed by the FBI to record all of the conversation. I was instructed by my prosecutor to record all of the conversations. And I've been recording a lot under their instruction, the Department of Justice and FBI. And this guy comes in and out to our country freely, and nobody talked to him. And he's a very important witness. …"

WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…Federal Judge Robert Payne issued a court order against this reporter to remove a secret DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) report from the Internet. I was ordered to remove the unredacted version of a DIA report by 5:30 p.m. eastern time that same day. Apparently, Department of Justice lawyer Joan Evans released the unredacted version by mistake. The DIA document sent to me contained the names of DIA agents who wrote the 1995 report on the Chinese Army Unit COSTIND. The DIA requested that the names of the agents be withheld under "Title 10, United States Code" to protect their identity. I replaced the secret version with the redacted (blacked out) version as per Judge Payne's orders, prior to the 5:30 p.m. deadline. As part of the process, I had to contact Assistant U.S. Attorney Evans, in an attempt to comply with Judge Payne's order to return the DIA document. Instead of resolving the situation, Evans swore vengeance and threatened to "get" me. I took her threats to be officially sanctioned by the U.S. Justice Department and the Clinton White House. Of course, this is typical of the Clinton administration. Its mistake compromised the identity of DIA agents. Instead of working to minimize the damage to U.S. national security, it has engaged in threats. Discover the truth, and come under attack…."

WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…The truth is that Ron Brown and the Commerce Department dealt with the Chinese army. My original Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) was for "all information on COSTIND" or the Chinese "Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense." In 1994, this PLA unit was led by General Ding Henggao with his two vice "minister" sub-commanders, General Huai Guomo and General Shen Rougjun. In my 1998 appeal to the Commerce Department, I submitted a document showing that "COSTIND Vice Minister Shen Rougjun" met with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and LORAL CEO Bernard Schwartz in August 1994. The Commerce Department has correctly released a mountain of information on "COSTIND," including data on COSTIND "Minister" General Ding and "Vice Minister" General Huai. COSTIND Vice Minister Shen was a general in the Chinese army. COSTIND is a Chinese army unit. Gen. Shen traveled to the U.S. in May 1994 and arranged for COSTIND to purchase a Hughes Corporation satellite, called Apstar 2, that was later destroyed in a crash. The PLA blamed the satellite for the crash and tried to pin the higher insurance rates on Hughes. Afterwards, Gen. Shen investigated the crash. Commerce Department officials participated in and authorized the Hughes crash analysis to be passed back to the Chinese under Vice Minister Shen. In the process, Hughes passed significant nose cone technology directly to COSTIND under the direction of Shen. In 1994, Gen. Shen also actively sought help from the Commerce Department in obtaining employment for his son, Shen Jun, at LORAL. Gen. Shen succeeded in obtaining a sensitive position for his son at Hughes. Gen. Shen, his son, and Hughes officials met to discuss the satellite crash…."

WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…Another key report found at the Commerce Department is a 1997 Rand Report on the Chinese army. The Rand Corp. found that PLA bribes paid for "lavish parties, luxury foreign automobiles and Swiss bank accounts". The Rand report, "Chinese Military Commerce and U.S. National Security" also details the CITIC bank-owned Poly Technologies and the smuggling of 2,000 fully automatic AK-47s from Chinese army inventories. According to the Rand report, U.S. Custom agents, posing as U.S. drug gangsters, arranged to purchase the machine guns in a sting operation that led directly to the Chinese army in Beijing. However, the Customs PLA machine-gun sting crossed with Poly Tech President Wang Jun and his visits to the White House. The Rand report ignored the donations made by the PLA through operatives to Mr. Clinton. The Rand Corp. missed the Chinese atomic espionage altogether. ….. The answer to the big miss in Rand analysis becomes all too clear upon closer inspection. The 1997 Rand report was sponsored and, in part, authored by Asia-Pacific "policy" expert Gareth C.C. Chang. Chang is a familiar player in the Chinagate affair. Even in the 1997 Rand report Chang is listed as "Senior Vice President" of Hughes Corporation. In fact, Chang is also in the 1999 Cox report. On April 4, 1995, Hughes Electronics Senior Vice President Gareth Chang wrote a memorandum to Hughes CEO Steven Dorfman regarding the Apstar 2 failure. Chang wrote, "We need to personally share our findings with the Chinese leadership. A senior Hughes executive, armed with detailed scientific and technical evidence, should meet with General Shen of COSTIND and Chairman Liu of CASC before anything is said to the media." Hughes' Chang and COSTIND PLA General Shen traveled in the same small circle of international arms dealing as Poly Tech Wang Jun and Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz. All of the above elected to connect their weapons business through Commerce Secretary Ron Brown…."

AP 8/17/99 "…Justice Department officials have told Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr they would probably be unable to take over his uncompleted investigation of President Clinton and his wife should he resign, a department official said Tuesday. ``He's never said to us, `I'm leaving,''' the official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity. But Starr's staff has had theoretical discussions with Justice Department attorneys about how his unfinished work would be handled if he left, the official said…."

ABCNEWS.com 8/17/99 J Jennings Moss and Brian Ross "…ABCNEWS has learned that Kenneth Starr has told the three-judge panel that appointed him he is ready to leave the Office of the Independent Counsel, though a great deal of work remains unfinished, including a decision on whether to prosecute the Clintons. But Starr, who wants to leave in the next few months, has determined it is not feasible to hand the work to the Justice Department and is recommending that the OIC continue its work. Sources also said Starr has forwarded the resumes of three of his deputies — including Michael Emmick, who led the sting operation against Monica Lewinsky — to the judges as recommended replacements who then would file a final report closing out the five-year investigation into President Clinton…… "

FoxNews AP 8/176/99 "…The Justice Department official said Starr's aides and the department's staff attorneys had discussed the possibility and ramifications of referring the unfinished investigation back to the Justice Department. "We said that was probably impossible given the kind of things he's investigating,'' the official said. "We said we would either have to decline to accept them or seek a new independent counsel or special counsel to complete the work.'' …"If any independent counsel chose to step down before an investigation were completed, it might raise questions we would want to address,'' said Myron Marlin, a Justice Department spokesman. …"



Central News Agency 1/18/97 Bill Wang & Debbie Kuo "…James C. Wood Jr., chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), submitted his resignation to the AIT Board of Trustees on Friday. With a copy of the resignation being sent to US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Wood's resignation took effect immediately. In a dialogue with CNA, Wood said he quit because he has been appointed to another post in the Clinton Administration. He, however, did not elaborate. His successor, meanwhile, will not be announced until the new secretary of state, Madeline Albright, takes office, Wood noted. …. Unlike his predecessors, who were all "China hands" with professional diplomatic backgrounds, Wood, a lawyer from Arkansas, was the first politically-appointed AIT chairman. …. Last year, Wood was accused of pressuring Taiwan businessmen for contributions to President Bill Clinton's reelection campaign. Wood denied the accusation, saying that all he has done is tell Taiwan businessmen to strengthen economic relations with the United States, including increasing investment in America. Wood, who assumed his AIT chairman post on Dec. 18, 1995, became an American liaison officer with Taiwan with the shortest working tenure, serving just 13 months…."


The Straits Times (Singapore) 1/19/97 "…Mr James Wood, chairman of the semi-official American Institute in Taiwan, was said to have resigned of his own accord after getting wind of talks in Washington that the Clinton administration wanted him replaced. The resignation had been accepted and Mr Wood's duty would be covered by his deputy, Ms Barbara Schwaghi, before a new appointment was made, said the Taiwanese daily. President Bill Clinton was said to be unhappy with Mr Wood because of media reports that the latter had "solicited donations" from Taiwanese businessmen for his re-election campaign…."

South China Morning Post 1/19/97 Jason Blatt "…TAIWAN authorities yesterday remained silent about Friday's resignation of Washington's top envoy to the island, American Institute in Taiwan chairman James Wood. Mr Wood, a lawyer from Arkansas and close friend of US President Bill Clinton, told Taiwan's Central News Agency he stepped down to accept another appointment with the Clinton administration. But he did not say what his new assignment was. Mr Wood, who the US Department of Justice last October confirmed was under investigation in connection with allegations of seeking donations for Mr Clinton's campaign from Taiwanese businessmen, did not address the accusations against him in the interview….Later, Mr Wood's predecessor, Natale Bellocchi, said he had heard rumours suggesting Mr Wood had sought illegal campaign donations from Taiwanese businessmen, ostensibly to "thank" Mr Clinton for protecting Taiwan when Beijing was conducting military exercises off the island's coast early last year. Mr Bellocchi said he had relayed everything he knew to investigating authorities. The allegations had caused a stir in the American media in the lead-up to last November's US presidential election. Yesterday, reports in Taiwan said Mr Wood's resignation had been confirmed by the US State Department….Mr Wood's resignation came as a surprise since just a few days before, when Taiwan's Vice-President Lien Chan was passing through New York on his way to Rome, Mr Wood was on hand to receive him…."


South China Morning Post 2/26/97 Simon Beck "…US officials have dismissed allegations of corruption and sexual harassment at America's de facto embassy in Taiwan, but admitted sloppy accounting and other problems. The administration yesterday said the man hired to run the American Institute in Taiwan was fired recently not because he revealed the alleged scandal, but for failing to do his job... The Justice Department is also investigating allegations that Mr Wood pressurised Taiwanese nationals to make donations to the Democratic Party. Even the admission that he was fired for doing a bad job will bring embarrassment to President Bill Clinton, who was instrumental in getting the Arkansas businessman the job, despite his lack of diplomatic credentials. The source of allegations of demands by institute officials for sex or cash in return for issuing visas to Taiwanese, could be traced to a former Taiwanese staff member at the institute, Mr Davies said. The official, whose job was to investigate the backgrounds of visa applicants, was sacked in 1990 for misconduct, he said, and went on to make wide-ranging allegations of visas being sold for as much as US$ 25,000 (HK$ 193,250). However, the spokesman said department officials charged with looking into his claims "concluded that the accusations were baseless and may have been made with the specific purpose of discrediting honest officers". Only one case of sexual harassment by an institute official had arisen, Mr Davies said, and that was in 1989. He said the probe failed to bear fruit after the employee denied the incident and the woman filed no charges. Mr Davies admitted an independent audit of institute finances between 1992 and 1995 stated that US$ 5 million in visa fees could not be accounted for, but he denied this money had disappeared through fraud. On Mr Wood's sacking, the spokesman said: "The department decided Mr Wood's performance failed to meet the basic needs of US foreign policy."…"

The Washington Times 8/19/99 "…. Given the extent of the scandal, which included efforts by some of Chung's Chinese friends to divert missile technology from a U.S. corporation desperately eager to do business with China and headed by the Democratic Party's largest individual contributor, Democratic officials have become obsessed with blocking various investigations. Chung has accused Attorney General Janet Reno, who has stubbornly refused to seek the appointment of an independent counsel, of "sitting on the information" he has given her. Chung also has asserted that the Democratic minority on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee sent his attorney an unsolicited package of materials explaining "how you take the Fifth in the United States Congress" after Chung was subpoenaed to testify. Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Dan Burton, citing a letter addressed to him from Miss Reno but delivered to ranking Democrat Henry Waxman within minutes of a telephone conversation between Miss Reno and Mr. Burton, convincingly argues that Miss Reno had been working in concert with the committee's Democratic minority to thwart its investigation. Mr. Burton also accuses Miss Reno of keeping case after case open to prevent his committee from interrogating witnesses. …"

The Washington Times 8/19/99 "…. Jerry Seper of The Washington Times reported this week that Democratic obstructionist actions included telling White House Deputy Counsel Bruce Lindsey to make himself unavailable for a deposition to which the Government Reform and Oversight Committee had subpoenaed him. Mr. Waxman told Mr. Burton that he had advised Mr. Lindsey to be "not available for this deposition." During the deposition of another White House official, the minority counsel raised 49 objections, and in another deposition Democrats sought to prevent a witness from answering questions from the majority counsel despite the witness' willingness to do so. In another deposition, Mr. Waxman attempted to prevent questions about convicted felon Webster Hubbell, the former associate attorney general who received $200,000 in consulting fees from Lippo Group, the Indonesia-based conglomerate that was the source of nearly $500,000 in illegal contributions from the Wiriadinata family…..Contrary to what Mr. Schiliro asserts, Democrats have had every incentive to block the campaign-finance probe, a fact that became particularly evident after China's involvement was confirmed. The cover-up began in October 1996, when the scandal erupted. And it has accelerated ever since. In hindsight, is it any wonder why Democratic Sen. John Glenn reacted so fiercely to Sen. Fred Thompson's July 1997 charge implicating China at the beginning of congressional investigations? The reality is that Chung, a convicted felon, is more credible than the Democratic Party and President Clinton…."