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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: September 2000

August 2000

• Wen Ho Lee Will Spend a Few More Days in Jail, CBS News, August 30. "There's no espionage case and there's no indication of damage to national security whatsoever. The only damage that has resulted is damage to the credibility of the justice system."
• The Osgood File: Wen Ho Lee Still Behind Bars by Charles Osgood, CBS Radio Network, August 30. "Some murderers get better treatment than he has to date."
• Judge Orders Government to Produce Evidence of Ethnic Profiling by Richard Benke, Associated Press, August 29. "The defense has alleged Wen Ho Lee, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was singled out for prosecution because he is ethnic Chinese while other suspects were ignored. The government has denied selective prosecution."
• Internet Enables Surfing for Secrets by Dan Verton, Federal Computer Week, August 28. "A study conducted for the Pentagon has singled out the Internet as one of the primary vehicles by which classified information related to weapons of mass destruction often falls into the wrong hands."
• CIA Uses Technology to Reform Culture of Distrust by Dan Verton, Federal Computer Week, August 28. "Intelligence experts and critics argue that the Internet has turned the notion of 'central intelligence' into an oxymoron."
• Lee Ruling Challenges Prosecutors by Ian Hoffman, Albuquerque Journal, August 26. "The judge implicitly repudiated the idea that Wen Ho Lee is some kind of superspy just waiting for the right moment to divulge these supersecrets to a foreign government," Aftergood said. Instead, "he's not a superspy and they're not supersecrets."
• Experts Wrangle Over Meaning of Judge's Bail Decision on Wen Ho Lee Case by Sue Major Holmes, Associated Press, August 25. "A law professor cautioned against reading too much into a judge's decision to release a jailed nuclear scientist, but a classification expert for a science group says the action repudiated the federal government's case against Wen Ho Lee."
• Fox News on Wen Ho Lee Bail Decision, August 25. "It's a black eye for the FBI, and I would argue that even if it wasn't deliberate it amounts to misconduct on the part of the prosecution."
• Bail Order Confines Lee to Home by Leslie Hoffman, Albuquerque Tribune, August 25. "In granting bail for Lee on Thursday, the judge ruled that the evidence against Lee 'no longer has the requisite clarity and persuasive character' needed to justify keeping the 60-year-old scientist behind bars."
• As the Case Crumbles by Fiona Morgan, Salon.com, August 25. "A judge orders scientist Wen Ho Lee free on bail as the prosecution's case appears to fall apart."
• Wen Ho Lee Case: Bold Threats, Shrinking Investigation by Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor, August 25. "If they had a stronger case they would have moved on it," says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. "As it is, I think they are charging Wen Ho Lee with more than they can prove."
• Live Online with Vernon Loeb of the Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, August 23. "How useful are the nonprofit groups National Security Archives and the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy & Government Project in trying to reform the currently ridiculous overclassification regime?"
• State Department Remarks on Declassification of Chile Documents, excerpts from press briefing, August 21. "Secretary Albright spoke with Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet this morning. They're working together on this project to try to get the maximum possible release of documents consistent with the need to protect sources and methods."
• Israeli Paper Prints Reactor Photos by Mark Lavie, Associated Press, August 18. "The Yediot Ahronot daily said the high-resolution pictures came from the Federation of American Scientists Internet Web site."
• History Held Hostage: The CIA's Refusal to Declassify the Covert Record on Chile by Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, August 17 (offsite). "This collection of documents is, in essence, the ‘Pentagon Papers’ of a major covert war."
• Rep. Pelosi Asks CIA to Fulfill Chile Declassification Obligations, letter to DCI George J. Tenet, August 3. "I am dismayed to learn that the Directorate of Operations is once again resisting compliance with the President's directive to declassify these documents."
• Scientists Group Asks Judge to Set Bail and Release Lee by Lawrence Spohn, Albuquerque Tribune, August 2. "The Federation of American Scientists cited recent analysis by nuclear weapons experts who scoffed at the idea that Lee poses a threat to world nuclear stability."
• State Department Announces Declassification of Iraqi Gulf War Documents, excerpts from a press briefing, August 2. "I am announcing today that we have begun to declassify and make available the first of many documents captured by American forces during the liberation of Kuwait."
• FAS Urges Judge to Grant Bail to Wen Ho Lee, letter from FAS President Henry Kelly, August 1. "We believe that the continued incarceration of Dr. Lee is indecent. We hope you will find that it is also contrary to law."
• In Focus: U.S. Secrecy and Lies by Kate Doyle, National Security Archive, Foreign Policy in Focus, August. "U.S. citizens must reject the obsession with secrecy that dominated government operations during the cold war."

Older News: July 2000

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