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Lee Accuses Gov't of Smear Campaign
1999-12-21
WASHINGTON - Government officials leaked false and misleading information to reporters to smear Wen Ho Lee as a spy for China, the fired nuclear weapons scientist said in a lawsuit filed Monday. The suit accuses the FBI and the departments of Justice and Energy of violating the Privacy Act by releasing details such as Lee's job history, his travels to Asia and allegations that he failed a lie-detector test. The leaks created a ``trial-by-media atmosphere'' that led to Lee's being charged with improper handling of classified information, the U.S. District Court lawsuit said. ``It is unlawful for the government to play under a different set of rules to try to smear somebody before they charge them,'' said Brian Sun, the California lawyer representing Lee in the privacy suit. ``That is just not right. That's what we think happened in this case.'' Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, speaking Monday at the Sandia National Laboratories, said Lee's lawsuit is groundless. ``I believe the lawsuit has no foundation,'' Richardson said. ``We have made an effort to protect the privacy of all people involved in this case.'' FBI spokesman Dave Miller wound not comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona did not immediately return a telephone message Monday. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Lee and his wife Sylvia, does not seek a specific amount of money but does open a new legal front for the scientist fired from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The lawsuit will allow Lee's lawyers to gather records and testimony about the investigation and officials' contacts with reporters, Sun said. ``This lawsuit is designed to ferret out and identify those folks who leaked confidential and personal information about Wen Ho and Sylvia Lee to the press,'' Sun said. Lee remains held without bail in New Mexico after his Dec. 10 arrest on 59 felony charges alleging that he transferred nuclear secrets to his personal computer and portable data tapes. The indictment does not allege that Lee gave information to China or any other foreign government. ``These leaks have not only disgraced my family and devastated my family, they also removed us of our dignity,'' Lee's 26-year-old daughter, Alberta Lee, said outside the federal courthouse Monday. ``We believe these leaks are the reason why my father is still in jail today.'' News reports quoted unidentified government sources as saying Lee was a prime suspect in the alleged theft by China of information about the W-88, the smallest and most sophisticated warhead in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The lawsuit cites recent Associated Press reports that the FBI had doubts as early as November 1988 that Lee, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen, was a Chinese spy. Among information the lawsuit said was leaked to the press illegally are claims a polygraph examination indicated Lee was lying, that Lee hired a Chinese graduate student as an assistant and that he got $700 from an American Express office while visiting Hong Kong. While a New York Times article reported that unidentified investigators thought an unidentified spy suspect - later identified as Lee - used the $700 for an airplane ticket to Shanghai, China, Lee actually gave the money to his daughter ``to take an excursion outside Hong Kong with a tour group,'' the lawsuit said. That article also said the suspect's wife - later identified as Sylvia Lee - drew suspicion because she spoke at a computer conference in China, though she was ``only a secretary'' at Los Alamos. The lawsuit said Mrs. Lee was a data analyst, with a highest-level ``Q'' security clearance, who was working for the FBI to help monitor Chinese scientists when she attended the conference. Mrs. Lee, a U.S. citizen born in China who retired from Los Alamos in 1995, has not been charged with a crime.
Gov't Seeks To Deny Bail for Lee (1999-12-24)Wen Ho Lee Deceived His Colleagues, Washington Post Reports (1999-12-23)Lee Accuses Gov't of Smear Campaign (1999-12-21)Wen Ho Lee sues US for invasion of privacy (1999-12-21)Indicted scientist sues U.S. agencies (1999-12-21)
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