Index

DATE=9/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON - WEN HO LEE (L)
NUMBER=2-266520
BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO: President Clinton says he is troubled by the
way federal prosecutors handled the case of Los Alamos
nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. He spoke shortly after
Attorney General Janet Reno refused to apologize for
the case. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from
the White House.


Text: In rare criticism of his Justice Department,
Mr. Clinton said he was troubled that federal
prosecutors had blocked bail for Lee, and said the
government could not justify the way it handled the
case.

Lee, a Taiwanese-born naturalized U-S citizen, was
arrested last December on 59 counts of mishandling
secrets and was put in solitary confinement. He was
released from prison Wednesday after pleading guilty
to one felony count of breaching security. As part of
the plea bargain, Lee agreed to cooperate with federal
investigators.

In a brief appearance before reporters Thursday, Mr.
Clinton said he initially accepted federal
prosecutors' arguments that Lee could not be freed on
bail because he was a danger to national security.
But he says those claims are now difficult to
rationalize in the wake of the plea agreement.

/// Clinton Act ///

The whole thing was quite troubling to me. I
think it is very difficult to reconcile the two
positions, that one day he is a terrible risk to
the national security, and the next day they are
making a plea agreement for an offense far more
modest than what had been alleged.

/// End Act ///

But earlier, Attorney General Janet Reno defended the
way the government handled the case, and turned aside
questions about whether Lee deserved an apology. She
said prosecutors had tried to find out what Lee did
with the nuclear secrets, which he admitted to
transferring from a highly secure computer at the Los
Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory to insecure personal
files. Lee has maintained he has destroyed the files.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart says Mr. Clinton
will be looking for more detailed explanations about
the case from the Justice Department, but says the
president still has full confidence in Ms. Reno.
(signed)

NEB/DAT/JP




14-Sep-2000 15:31 PM LOC (14-Sep-2000 1931 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.