Where is wen ho lee

Wen Ho Lee, and to assess whether he had taken part in delivering sensitive information to the Chinese government regarding the W warhead.

However, the first function of counterintelligence, to protect secrets, was not properly enforced by the DOE, regardless of its security measures. Prior to , foreign visits to the weapons laboratories went largely unreported to DOE counterintelligence, especially after the end of the Cold War. In retrospect, the issue of the PRC acquiring the W technology was due to a failure by the DOE in controlling the influx of foreigners into premises where sensitive data was available.

In theory, this makes more sense. If the DOE had applied more rigorous measures, and had restricted foreign access and visits to the premises, there is a good chance that the W would not have been stolen. Another criticism for the DOE in failed counterintelligence methodology was regarding personnel security. The threat could have been internal. Because of this lack of preventive security measures is that spies such as Aldrich Ames, and without a single doubt, the person who handed the W information to the PRC were so successful.

What is hard to believe is to which extent the DOE took its time to restrict Dr. Moreover, the computer should have been, but was not searched in , , or The story about the access to Dr. Lee was a spying for the PRC. Later in the investigation, it was known that as early as , Dr. Lee began transferring classified files from the secure LANL computer systems to the open system, and he had even tampered with the files in order to remove the classified marker preventing their transfer; however, the most sensitive of all tapes was downloaded by Lee in April and it contained the most information of all.

Lee downloaded, seven are unaccounted for. The codes included in the documents downloaded by Dr. Now, it is important to ask: to which extent did the Bureau do its job appropriately in carrying out the investigations?

The answer is that it did not do a formidable job due to ongoing interference by the DOE among other factors. The Bureau did not handle the case in such a way that avoided cross-contamination by the initial investigation carried out by the DOE. But, the issue did not stop there. Lee led to ambiguity. Moreover, the Bureau had a lack of clear and concise focus in the case; hence the ongoing change of agents assigned to the investigations. Also, much criticism can be found in the way that the FBI conducted the interrogation on Dr.

Lee in March This left much to be desired, and more than a professional practice, it seemed as an act of desperation by part of the Bureau to find evidence, of any type, to prosecute Dr. In , Trulock told Bruno that the Chinese had stolen the design of the W In the same year John Ritcher, Bobby Henson and Larry Booth, three scientists who were used to the world of intelligence, assured Trulock that the Chinese test on September 25, was a primary test from which the w technology was involved, and probably obtained through espionage.

Years later, a U. Lee and shipped it out to the field. The AI was essentially a foreign counterintelligence investigation, a matter that required expertise peculiarly within the expertise of the FBI. Lee as one of the suspects since it had been on the FBI scope since the s, but it is inconceivable that out of all the personnel working at the LANL he was the only suspect to be investigated.

Still, the blame at the beginning of the investigation is to be not only shared by the DOE, but by the Bureau as well. This shows a lack of prioritization by part of the agents involved early in the case. However, the disinterest by part of the Bureau did not occur just at this stage, it was further magnified in the following parts of the inquiries. Wen Ho Lee, which resulted on a cross-contaminated investigation.

Nevertheless, the FBI failed to take on full responsibility for the investigation, as it should have according to the MOU. During the DOE polygraph examination, the Wackenhut polygraphers, as they came to be known since they were under supervision of George Wackenhut, concluded that Dr. Since the DOE had admitted that Dr. Lee had passed the polygraph, this caused Bureau to nearly shut down the case when it should have been intensified.

Lee possessed with valuable nuclear weapons information could not be recovered, as they had disappeared mysteriously after the polygraph. If the FBI had done the polygraph, there is the possibility of the case being closed before time, and the tapes would have been recovered before they mysteriously disappeared.

The answer is unequivocally no. However, one important issue, more than the organizational aspect, was the way that the interrogation was carried out by the FBI in March, During the polygraph and interview by the DOE, Dr.

Lee had perceived himself to be the subject of an espionage investigation, as he made apparent during the January 17, polygraph. Lee decided to disappear the tapes, but there is no evidence to conclude this outcome. Aside from implementing polygraphs, a grave mistake was made by part of the FBI during the March 7, interrogation on Dr. Lee and asked him:. In addition to that the interrogator made further psychological attacks by comparing him to Aldrich Ames:.

One of the most disturbing statements made by the interrogator was with reference to the cancer Dr. Lee had faced years before:. Your wife is going to have to live with it. This is going to eat away, at them like a cancer.

Lee came from. The quote above from the torture manual reflects Dr. By manipulating him psychologically the FBI thought that they could get a confession, but it did not work. They could only prosecute him for the mishandling of information. Nevertheless, the way the FBI approached the interrogation leaves much to be desired and it reflects as an act of desperation by the Bureau to have a confession from Dr. Another controversial topic raised by this particular case is whether or not Dr.

By the time of the Bellows report, Trulock and Bruno denied ever writing the names of Dr. Lee and his wife in the list. This was probably due to the fact that they were afraid of being accused of racial profiling. Not targeting Caucasians during the investigations was due to a lack of imagination. This lack of imagination was due to the firm belief in the Chinese modus operandi when recruiting spies.

The AI should have considered a number of other suspects; instead, it ended up as a funnel from which only Wen Ho and Sylvia Lee emerged. After all, Trulock and his subordinates had come up with a list of other possible suspects, which included Caucasians working in the laboratory. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that the reason that they chose Dr. Lee as the primary suspect was not precisely because of his ethnicity. It was because his name had come up during the Kindred Spirit records in June , before the AI even began.

Wen Ho Lee seemed to always be involved in suspicious situations, such as the Tiger Trap Operation in the s, which drew even more attention to him during the investigations. At the end, Dr. Wen Ho Lee served time in prison in vain, and the real spy, or spies, was never caught.

This only enforces the thought that the FBI should have been looking everywhere instead of fixating on a particular suspect. The FBI missed opportunities. Regardless of the negative outcomes in the case one can look at this particular incident and still wonder: Was Dr.

Wen Ho Lee a successful Chinese attempt to spy on America? If so, this would indicate that the FBI and the DOE were right all along; nevertheless, both agencies still lacked enough effort and motivation to properly conduct the investigations. But, what can be learned for future references? First, it should be noted that although Dr. Lee was not prosecuted for espionage, his behavior was everything but normal.

Meeting with the leading Chinese nuclear designer Dr. Hu in a Beijing hotel and not reporting it to the DOE is a red flag. Lee offered to help Min, the suspect and target of the Tiger Trap investigation, raises suspicion as to why would he go the extra mile to help someone who he did not even know?

Moreover, the downloading of classified data into tapes, some of which disappeared after the first polygraph in , seems extra suspicious. There is a direct parallel with the Min case study. This is a major red flag that the DOE failed to see. In conclusion, the truth is that the way that the events unfolded the guilt in the case rest on three subjects. The first is on the DOE. If the DOE had implemented better counterintelligence methodology then the W data would not have been stolen.

The second at fault is the FBI. The Bureau should not have allowed the DOE to intercede in its matters, let alone carry a polygraph examination. Moreover, the FBI should have broadened its interests on other possible suspects. The third at fault is Dr. Wen Ho Lee. If he had been mindful of his actions and interactions, he would have avoided special attention to him by the authorities.

Overall, the Wen Ho Lee case proves to be very complex. If there are more documents available they have not been declassified yet, and until then the case will continue to be regarded as ambiguous. The Chinese are more than cunning when it comes to espionage.

The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop. About Feedback Funders Support Jobs. Close Menu. Email Address Subscribe. Yes Not now. By Admin. Judge Orders Reporters to Reveal Sources in Lee Case A federal judge has ordered five reporters to reveal their sources for articles that portrayed Dr.