Friday, Sep 5, 2008
A judge orders scientist Wen Ho Lee free on bail as the prosecution's case appears to fall apart.
Aug 26, 2000 | After eight months in jail, nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee will be released as early as next week on $1 million bail, and allowed to return to his home. After months of hysteria over Chinese nuclear espionage, the man at the center of one of the biggest spy scandals since the Rosenberg case in the 1950s won't even be charged with spying.
Federal District Court Judge James A. Parker ruled Thursday in Albuquerque that the case against Lee "no longer has the requisite clarity and persuasive character" necessary to justify keeping Lee behind bars until his trial starts in November. Lee has been held in solitary confinement since he was indicted on 59 counts of mishandling nuclear secrets. Parker's decision represents a major blow to government prosecutors, who had convinced the judge in December that Lee posed enough of a danger to national security that he should be kept behind bars.
Lee's supporters lauded Parker's decision.
"As supporters and friends of Wen Ho Lee, we delight in the fact that very soon he's going to be going home and not have to deal with this humiliating treatment of shackles and chains," said Cecilia Chang, spokesperson for the Wen Ho Lee defense fund. "Obviously it's not over yet. But to all of his supporters this is a relief because we do believe that the justice system should give him due process."
Scholars and scientists who have been following the Lee case also welcomed Parker's reversal.
"The way I see it, the prosecution overreached and will suffer for it," said Stephen Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists.
"Lee's alleged downloading of weapons-related information is extremely alarming and the government's concern was entirely legitimate," said Jessica Stern, a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. "But some officials appear to have panicked in response to the news. Their overreaction and mishandling of the case will ultimately damage national security."
During a three-day bail hearing this week, it was revealed that government prosecutors had misled the court. Weapons experts testified that the information Lee is said to have downloaded was of little value to foreign powers, and that the data wasn't so sensitive or secret as to be "of a caliber where hundreds of millions of people could be killed" if leaked, as lead prosecutor George Stamboulidis had warned earlier in the week.
Lead FBI investigator Robert Messemer also admitted to Judge Parker that previous statements he had made in court about alleged deceptions by Lee were incorrect. (Messemer had previously testified that Lee had lied to a coworker by asking for password access in order to download a risumi. But the coworker told the FBI Lee had simply asked to download data files.) Nor have prosecutors presented any evidence that Lee handed over any information to any foreign powers.
But Lee isn't out of the woods yet. When his case goes to trial in November, the scientist will face strong evidence that he violated important security procedures, flagrantly and repeatedly, by downloading classified information about nuclear weapons from secure government networks onto his home computers. Seven computer tapes allegedly containing information the scientist downloaded are still missing; Lee claims he destroyed them.
So far, the prosecution has failed to gather enough evidence to show that Lee committed these indiscretions with the intent of sharing nuclear secrets with the Chinese government. The difficulty of proving such charges was illustrated at a hearing in early July, when prosecutors admitted his security infractions were partly a matter of his hunt for a new job.
Evidence presented by the prosecution suggests that Lee had been seeking government positions in Australia and Switzerland -- a job search that wouldn't be highly unusual given the international demand for nuclear scientists.
Lee now sits in a maximum security prison in New Mexico, cut off from contact with anyone but his lawyers and family. During the one hour each week he is allowed to visit his family (through glass, with government agents sitting in the room), he is bound in shackles at the wrists and ankles.
When he returns to his New Mexico ranch-style home, Lee will be closely monitored. He will have access to one telephone line, wiretapped by the government, and will not be permitted to use any electronic devices, including computers. Only his wife, Sylvia, will be permitted to stay with him. Other family members may visit during the daytime, but only after arranging visits with government officials.
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