-Caveat Lector- November 29, 2000 F.B.I. to Dig for Tapes Discarded by Scientist in Spy Case By JAMES STERNGOLD LOS ANGELES, Nov. 28 — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has moved heavy equipment into a landfill outside Los Alamos, N.M., in search of the computer tapes on which Dr. Wen Ho Lee, the former nuclear scientist, has admitted to downloading weapons secrets. This needle-in-a-haystack search is the result of information that Dr. Lee provided to investigators as part of a plea agreement he struck with the government in September, government officials said. It could help solve one of the central mysteries in Dr. Lee's case: what happened to the 3M brand DC 6150 computer tape cartridges on which the highly sensitive weapons information was illegally placed. Officials close to the case said that the government has known since Sept. 13, when Dr. Lee entered a plea to one felony count, that he put the tapes in the garbage, and that they probably ended up in the landfill. But it was unclear why it has taken agents more than two months to begin digging. Doug Beldon, an F.B.I. special supervisory agent in Albuquerque, would say only, "The F.B.I. is conducting a search at a Los Alamos, N.M., landfill in furtherance of an ongoing investigation." But government officials confirmed that the goal was to locate Dr. Lee's computer tapes. John Cline, a lawyer for Dr. Lee, said he would have no comment. Dr. Lee, a former weapons scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, had originally been charged in a 59-count indictment with illegally downloading a trove of weapons data with the intention of aiding a foreign nation and harming the United States. Dr. Lee spent more than nine months in solitary confinement and was described as a grave risk to national security. But the government dropped almost its entire case and Dr. Lee pleaded guilty to one count of mishandling secrets. Dr. Lee won his freedom and agreed to explain why he had downloaded the data and what happened to the tapes, at least seven of which were missing. His lawyers had said earlier that he destroyed the missing tapes and that no one else had access to them. Dr. Lee has had eight meetings with government officials over the past two months, and two more are expected in mid-December. Officials said that during the sessions Dr. Lee told officials that he had put the tapes in the garbage at the laboratory. Government agents were then able to determine roughly what part of the landfill they were emptied into, and that is where the F.B.I. now intends to begin its search. The tapes are regarded by the government as being of vital importance — in court hearings they were said to have information that could allow another nation to create nuclear bombs — and have been the focus of an enormous government investigation, both to preserve them and to keep them from falling into enemy hands. The tapes contain, or at least had once contained, a virtual library of nuclear weapons testing and design data, and Dr. Lee had created them over a period of years. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om