CNN THE WORLD TODAY
December 10, 1999; Friday

Nuclear Scientist Wen Ho Lee Accused of Endangering U.S. National Security

BYLINE: Joie Chen, Pierre Thomas, Jamie McIntyre


JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI today arrested former Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. His detainment follows months of discussion inside the Justice Department about whether to seek an indictment.

Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas tonight with the story.

PIERRE THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee now stands accused of putting U.S. national security at serious risk.

JOHN KELLY, U.S. ATTORNEY: Wen Ho Lee has denied the United States its exclusive dominion and control over some of this country's most important and sensitive nuclear secrets.

THOMAS: FBI agents arrested Lee at his home, charging him with illegal transfer of nuclear weapons codes. Lee's arrest came after a federal grand jury in New Mexico issued a sweeping 59-count indictment. It accuses Lee of downloading volumes of nuclear weapons design and testing simulation data from a secure computer to a non- secure computer. What's more, the government says Lee placed the information on 10 computer tapes, and that Lee cannot account for seven of those tapes.

Lee was not charged with spying, but nuclear experts say its a security breach of extraordinary proportion.

GARY MILHOLLIN, ARMS CONTROL ANALYST: This loss compromises the most secret information the United States has; that is how we design, and test and have confidence in our nuclear warheads, how they work, how they function.

THOMAS: Lee has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, claiming he made copies in case of a computer crash.

WEN HO LEE: I'm innocent.

THOMAS: His attorneys vowed to fight. They point out that in other cases where classified information has been mishandled or lost, the suspects were not prosecuted. In a statement, Lee's attorneys said the Justice case was "groundless," and they say there is no evidence Lee has given the information to anyone and no evidence that classified tapes were taken from Lee's lab. In addition, Lee's defenders say he was targeted solely because he's Asian-American.

The investigation of Lee grew out allegations of Chinese nuclear espionage, specifically the potential loss of W-88 nuclear warhead technology. But the FBI has been unable to link Lee to those allegations, and has since expanded the investigation beyond Lee.

(on camera) FBI sources tell the CNN what Lee has now been indicted for represents a potentially far more damaging loss.

Pierre Thomas, CNN, Washington

CHEN: Just what was on the computer tapes prosecutors say are missing? No one will say specifically, but officials have made it clear that the potential for damage is very serious.

More from CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre tonight.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors seeking to convict fired atomic scientist Wen Ho Lee of mishandling classified material say information he downloaded onto a missing computer tape included design secrets to a wide range of U.S. nuclear weapons.

U.S. investigators suspect Lee may have passed those secrets to China, but don't have the proof. Nevertheless, some experts believe the potential damage to U.S. national security is enormous.

FRANK GAFFNEY, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: I have a feeling that if the Chinese have the benefit of what a man like Wen Ho Lee knew, it would it would represent a huge advance in their ability to modernize with great efficiency their strategic nuclear arsenal.

MCINTYRE: Currently, China has only 20 missiles with the range to hit the United States, and only a single submarine capable of carrying nuclear missiles. But according to a Pentagon report released earlier this year, China is developing a new ballistic- missile submarine to carry longer-range missiles armed with smaller, American-style multiple warheads. The U.S. suspects, but can't prove, it is all being done much faster and cheaper thanks to stolen American know-how.

The copied Los Alamos computer files also contained data about U.S. nuclear testing, which in theory could help China develop the ability to test nuclear weapons through complex computer models. For instance, in court documents, prosecutors charge Lee copied the complete source code for a primary weapon design, a blueprint that would allow a computer to simulate the actions of the bomb.

JOHN PIKE, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: This data would mainly confirm what they probably already knew. It would give them the opportunity to check their own data, to check their own calculations, to basically confirm that they were on the right track.

MCINTYRE (on camera): There is still a debate among experts about how much China's nuclear program have been accelerated by stolen U.S. nuclear secrets. Experts say, however, if China did end up with the missing computer tapes, it could at the very least save them some time and money.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

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