China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets

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downloaded current nuclear weapon design codes and other data directly to a 10 th
tape. These simulation codes are used to compare computer calculations with actual
nuclear test data.
Four hours before the indictment, Lee’s lawyer faxed a letter to the U.S.
Attorney, saying that Lee wanted to take another polygraph and to provide “credible
and verifiable” information to show that “at no time did he mishandle those tapes in
question and to confirm that he did not provide those tapes to any third party.” 152
At a hearing in Albuquerque, N.M., on December 13, 1999, Wen Ho Lee
pleaded not guilty to the charges. Without elaboration, his defense attorneys
maintained that the seven tapes had been destroyed and that there was no evidence
that Lee had the tapes or had disclosed or attempted to disclose the tapes. Lee was
ordered to be held in jail without bail, until his trial, despite his attorneys’ offer to
post $100,000 bond and place Lee on electronic surveillance at his home. 153 Lee was
then held in solitary confinement, placed in shackles for a significant time period, and
denied outdoor exercise. Lee’s trial was set to begin on November 6, 2000.
Meanwhile, on December 20, 1999, Wen Ho Lee and his wife filed a lawsuit
against the Departments of Energy and Justice and the FBI for alleged violations of
the Privacy Act of 1974. The Lees charged that, since at least early 1999, the
government made numerous intentional, unauthorized disclosures about them,
causing them to be unfairly and inaccurately portrayed in the media as PRC
“spies.” 154 (After being freed under a plea agreement in September 2000, Lee’s
lawyers indicated that he intended to continue the civil lawsuit. 155 )
In April 2000, Lee’s attorney revealed that, in 1999, only after Lee was fired,
the government re-assigned a higher security classification to the computer files that
Lee was charged with downloading. At the time that Lee downloaded the files, they
were not classified information, but considered “Protect As Restricted Data
(PARD),” a category of security assigned to voluminous and changing scientific data,
not a security classification of Secret or Confidential, as the indictment charged.
Both sides were said to agree that the government had changed this classification
after the downloading, as shown in the prosecution’s evidence. While Lee’s defense
attorney argued that the indictment was “deceptive,” the Justice Department
contended that Lee took the “crown jewels” of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets. Lee’s
lawyers also found that PARD’s security ranking was five on a scale of nine, the
152 Loeb, Vernon, “Physicist is Indicted in Nuclear Spy Probe,” Washington Post, December
11, 1999.
153 Berthelsen, Christian, “Nuclear-Weapons Scientist Pleads Not Guilty; Held Without
Bail,” New York Times, December 14, 1999.
154 “Family of Dr. Wen Ho Lee Announces Filing of Privacy Act Lawsuit Against the
Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Energy,” news release, December 20,
1999.
155 Loeb, Vernon, “Lee Will Pursue Suit for Breach of Privacy,” Washington Post,
September 15, 2000.