The Chinese Spy Scandal That Wasn't

by Randolph T. Holhut

Everyone in the Justice Department, the FBI, the Energy Department and the Clinton White House should hang their heads in shame. And let's not forget The New York Times and the Republican members of Congress that whipped up a spy scandal where none existed.

In March 1999, the Times fingered Lee -- a naturalized American citizen who was a nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory -- as the prime suspect in the alleged theft of U.S. nuclear secrets. The Times' story uncritically parroted the government's claims against the Taiwan-born Lee; claims that had no credible evidence. The day after the story appeared, Lee was fired.

In May 1999, a Republican-led House committee chaired by Rep. Christopher Cox, (R - California), released a three-volume report that charged that every Chinese business, every Chinese citizen, and even every Chinese-American was a potential spy for the communists in China. There was plenty of hand-wringing by conservatives about how President Clinton betrayed America, how this nation was in danger of being incinerated at any moment by the Chinese, and how this was the worst breach of national security since the Rosenbergs.

For nine months, after he was fired, Lee and his family, friends and colleagues were subjected to harassment, bullying and intimidation by government investigators. When Lee was finally arrested, he was charged with 59 felony counts and was held without bail for nine months in solitary confinement. When he was allowed to leave his cell, he left it in shackles.

But the government had no case. There was nothing to back up the most serious claim against Lee of sharing data on the W-88 warhead, the U.S.'s most sophisticated nuclear weapon. The Chinese only have about two dozen single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching North America. Their technology is still decades behind the U.S., and they have shown little inclination to modernize -- not when the U.S. has an annual trade deficit with China that's more than $60 billion and growing.

The "secrets" that Lee downloaded onto his personal computer -- data used to simulate nuclear explosions -- weren't secrets at all. The government classified them after Lee was taken in. The unclassified information that Lee downloaded appeared to be more an effort to polish up his resume for another job than to sell out the national security.

After more bullying by the feds, including being threatened with a trip to the electric chair, Lee copped a plea for the one thing that he was apparently guilty of -- mishandling classified information -- and was sentenced to time served. U.S. District Court James Parker, who presided over the case, said the government's handing of the Lee case "embarrassed our entire nation" and admitted he was misled by the FBI and the Justice Department.

Lee is suing the federal government, accusing it of violating federal privacy laws when it leaked information to the press suggesting Lee was a spy. I hope he wins a huge judgment and further embarrasses the national security establishment that tried to make Lee the fall guy for years of lax security.

The racial profiling aspect of the Lee case is even more disgusting. Former CIA director John Deutch has been accused of doing pretty much the same thing Lee had done -- storing classified information on a personal computer. But Deutch is not in shackles. He's not in solitary confinement. He's not being threatened with execution. He's not even in custody. Think that being a white guy might have something do with it?

Morale at Los Alamos is at rock bottom, particularly among Asian scientists who watched the Lee case and think they could easily be the next target for a witch hunt, simply because of their race. Considering how many foreign-born scientists and engineers are working in the U.S., how many of them do you think want to do government work after watching what happened to Lee?

In the end, no one can say conclusively that the Chinese have gathered any significant data. Not that they had to work that hard if they did. Between official visits and scientific exchanges, academic seminars and a bit of ratting around through unclassified source material, anyone with some smarts can find quite a bit of information without going into the seriously classified stuff. Also, since U.S. electronics and aerospace companies are rushing into China, the Chinese have been able to get even more information just in the course of doing business.

As for the braying by conservatives that China is a dangerous threat to the U.S., that's merely alarmist talk to justify the billions being spent by the Pentagon. In the post-Cold War world, it's economic power that matters. That's why China is going all out to become an economic superpower and isn't in a hurry to become a major nuclear power. China's also not likely to blow up its best customer. The U.S. is China's top trading partner, and now China that has been granted normal trade status by the U.S., they'll make even more money.

The Lee case would've have been just a laughable sideshow, if not for all the damage that has been done. The top federal officials that are responsible for the abusive treatment of Lee -- Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI Director Louis Freeh and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson -- will not apologize for their actions, which they claim were justified. We haven't seen an apology from the New York Times, which swallowed the government's lies and then gave them credence with their front treatment of a phony spy probe, or from the Republican lynch mob in Congress.

The only apology has come from Judge Parker, who also issued a somber warning that's the ultimate lesson we've learned from the Lee case: "The executive branch has enormous power, the abuse of which can be devastating to our citizens."

If you don't believe him, just ask Wen Ho Lee.